I'll be in this boat soon too, I'm afraid. We have a paved trail connector that connects two pieces of single track, and I tried to use my big ring on it the other day, and it made a horrifying sound. Upon inspection I found that two teeth on my big ring had been bent over by something I bashed them on during the previous ride.

I've never had this happen before. Perhaps Race Face chainrings are weaker than Shimanos? Either way, I'll have to decide whether to ditch the big ring and get a bashguard, or keep it and lose clearance.