Sharing some positive non-CPAP results...

Hello CPAP family,
I know this forum is for CPAP info and support (and you've given me much of that over the past decade plus) - but after 13 years now of nightly CPAP use, I decided to take a risk and give "another solution" a try - just on the hopes of having a bit of time away from the old hose and mask

So, last month I started down the path of having an "oral appliance" made by a local dentist also trained/accredited in sleep disorders.

I'll state up front it wasn't cheap (this place did a pretty custom measurement and 3d print job on the appliance) - and my insurance balked at reimbursement of anything past about 10 percent of what I paid out of pocket - so I know that means this is not for everyone.

I'll also state that my sleep apnea has always been diagnosed as "medium" (BiPAP pressure has always only been 8/11) - so I recognize that more severe sleep apnea cases may not have this option either.

However, I do want to share that once I made it through a few weeks of slowly progressing the little bands on the side of the two custom mouth pieces (upper and lower) I seem to have found the sweet spot just last week for how far my lower jaw needs to be extended forward to allow me to breath through the night - with NO CPAP machine needed! That's right, I just completed 7 nights of restful sleep with only a (relatively) comfortable double mouth guard in my mouth - no hose tying me to the side of my bed - no mask strapped to my face with the always present leaks shooting air in my face in the middle of the night - pretty much the unimaginable dream of any long term CPAP user

I'm going to keep moving forward with using this little magic device and I'll update this forum with my success and failures. I know over the last 12 years I wondered on and off if any of the other solutions out there might be possible for a guy like me - so again, I hope it's obvious I'm just sharing this experience in case there are others out there in similar circumstances wondering also.

Cheers,
Roger

Many thanks for sharing your good experience, and I hope the dental appliance will continue to serve you well.

I've been experimenting with a cheeseball MAD, the SnoreMD, 40$ at Walmart. I found that I was able to see a benefit at around 5mm advancement... I wore it for an hour before bed and left my jaw relaxed all night. In the morning I found my jaw still advanced some. My peak pressures went from 16 to 14cm... I have diagnosis AHI 104.

Do you have another appliance to set your bite back? Have you tried wearing an O2 monitor to see how you're doing? I finally determined that after going to bi-level with higher pressures the benefit was outweighed by the movement I was seeing in my normal bite. I have fairly severe overbite so I had to use the thing upside down! Advance it all the way, boil n bite, then bring it forward to almost normal.

Actually I've found I can advance my jaw without the appliance just by jutting it, then biting my upper lip with my lower teeth softly... perhaps this is because the joints are freed up now.

Glad to hear you're having those results.... the word should get out to pilots and truck drivers before their mandatory sleep studies that this can bring them back from over the edge into OSA diagnosis. For Severe OSA I've found it's not worth it... but if I had to sleep without the machine I'd sleep upright and advance my jaw as much as I could.

vandownbytheriver (great user name) - wanted to respond and let you know there's no "appliance to set your bite back" in the process I'm going through - although they do have some exercises they recommend doing (which I have been - and they seem to help) - so I thought I'd share the link to that video for you in case you want to give them a try - because like you said, a change to your bite is a serious consideration to this type of therapy:

https://youtu.be/neo91WwhopY

I'm still going strong on the new device - haven't had my cap on in several weeks now - is it weird to say I think my system almost misses it sometimes? Ha, I guess it's not weird - 13 years is more than enough time for something to become very much a habit

Just to share some exiting news (to me at least) - I've got a group camping trip I'm going on this weekend - it will be my first in a long, long while where I don't have to figure out all the logistics involved in bringing even a good travel CPAP machine along - just gonna pop this complex little mouthguard in and off to sleep - sounds almost too good to be true.

Cheers,
Roger