Teeth chipping off and sleep apnea

Hello all,

I it's been a while since I've posted; I've been busy. Anyway I've had this happen twice since I've been using my cpap. I've had a tooth chip on the left side; bottom molar. and then today I had another tooth chip..bigger this time on the right side molar. Now to be fair I like hard candy alot, Nerds, lifesavers, Tic Tacs; which I just finished one of those big containers full. That could be the cause of course; also these teeth have been filled before and could also the issue.

Now I am a mouth breather; I use a FFM but now the only time I mouth breath is when my nose is stopped up like it was a couple of days ago. I'm just curious about whether there is a relationship between teeth chipping off or breaking and CPAP or if that's just happenstance.

Thanks

there's more likely a correlation between mouth breathing and poor dental health.

I'm just curious about whether there is a relationship between teeth chipping off or breaking and CPAP

It's an inverse relationship. Before I had CPAP I would clench my teeth when in an apneic state. After CPAP it ended.

I don't know how old you are, but you are aging and teeth are becoming more likely to wear thin for whatever reason.

Hey now I brush twice a day usually use mouth wash at night. I usually don't floss...I usually forget. I go to my dentist once a year sometimes 2 times when my schedule allows it. I do like candy though and junk food. I gave up mountain dew a long time ago and only drink it when they come out with Game Fuel flavors. I don't really drink a lot of pop and when I do it's usually Sierra Mist. I mostly drink water or flavored water. I don't drink coffee very much...only flavored stuff and no tea. I know the junk food is a killer but I like sweet stuff; otherwise I wouldn't be chunky like I am. Oh and I am 38 years old.

My tooth breaking was caused by diabetes, I craved wster and ice, eating ice fractured my teeth, so I can't blame everything that has happened to me on XPAP.

Maybe the tooth damage caused Sleep Apnea, we'll go with that, it probably causes back and foot pain too. Jim

So that's why I sprained my ankle 2 months ago and it still hurts!!! .

Seriously I did do that but it wasn't caused by my sleep apnea it was caused by a chunky 38 year old thinking she could jump down off of something like she was 10 years younger.

I was just curious if there could be a corelation. I've always had pretty good dental health. I've had a few cavities over the years but nothing serious until the last year or so. It could be age; it could be the years of eating candy like Nerds, gobstoppers, jaw breakers, and instead of letting the hard candy melt in your mouth I chomp on it. I've never really chomped much on ice especially since the ice maker in my fridge quit working. Drinks that are too cold bother my senstive teeth.

My parents always took me to be drilled, that may be overkill, it seams mostof the broken teeth were tge drilled teeth. I think that weakens them a lot. Now I need them pulled but am not doing it because there's not much to get a hold of and the roots wrap under the jaw bone. So I do a lot of vit c, and live with the pain.

Lately ive been eating 6 to 8 almonds a day, they started loosening my front teeth, so I now put the almonds in the blender and turn them into powder, not as taisty but no more pain. Jim

dragon672 wrote:Hey now I brush twice a day usually use mouth wash at night. I usually don't floss...I usually forget.

mouth breathing, dry mouth, poor dental health... look it up.

I can't think of any correlation between the tooth chipping and cpap or sleep apnea. If you grind your teeth at night, maybe you could try a mouth guard to wear at night and see if that helps.

I don't think I grind my teeth. My dentist hasn't mentioned it before. I'll ask when I go Monday.

I think the biggest problem might be the hard candy. Munching on something hard + something sweet = poor dental health. Not the kind where you don't brush your teeth, but the kind where you are abuse your teeth. Throw in some dry mouth, which can lead to increased dental cavities & you have a recipe for teeth that will break.

If I were in your shoes, I'd try to lose the hard candy habit. I know that's easier said than done, but maybe try sugar-free mints & let them melt, don't chomp.

To me, my teeth are pretty important, but everyone has their personal opinion on that.

Jen

Yeah I've given up the Nerd and Gobstoppers since the last chipped tooth. I was only buying hard candy when I'd get a sore throat but I'd still end up chomping the candy up. Then I purchased Tic-Tacs....bad bad thing. I'm going to give those up too. My allergy medicine probably don't really help the issue either Allerga and Singular. I have a whole bag of Life-Savers I purchased earlier this week because of my sinus infection...i guess I'll give that away to someone. Sigh I'd like to keep all my teeth gaps and all lol.

jencat824 wrote:I think the biggest problem might be the hard candy. Munching on something hard + something sweet = poor dental health. Not the kind where you don't brush your teeth, but the kind where you are abuse your teeth. Throw in some dry mouth, which can lead to increased dental cavities & you have a recipe for teeth that will break.

If I were in your shoes, I'd try to lose the hard candy habit. I know that's easier said than done, but maybe try sugar-free mints & let them melt, don't chomp.

To me, my teeth are pretty important, but everyone has their personal opinion on that.

Jen

I think it also has to do with genes. My dad has great teeth. My mom has crowded teeth with a ton of problems. I got great teeth that are crowded.

Considering the abuse I have put my teeth through. I love sweets, and I spent a good 20 years drinking mostly pop. I still drink a lot of pop, but have replaced some of it with water. I also went more than 10 years avoiding the dentist. Then a couple more. The only teeth I have ever broken were two wisdom teeth. One happened about 14 years ago when I bit something hard. The other one was about 3 years ago. I had one filling as a child. I did finally get some fillings done almost 2 years ago when I had the 3 remaining wisdom teeth pulled. There were many, 16 total I believe. But they were all very shallow. I had 11 of them done the same day as the wisdom teeth removals. And then the other 5 done a few weeks later. Those 5 were so shallow that the dentist was able to do them without the normal pain meds, just the numbing stuff. I have never had a root canal or anything else big. Considering the abuse I put them through, they have held up remarkably well. Oh, and I am a serious mouth breather, most of the day and ALL of the night. Even as a teenager, the dentist would complain that my gums were too pale from mouth breathing.

It could be the mouth breathing and extra air flow from the cpap is making the dry mouth worse, which can cause dental problems. But chances are, your teeth may be more sensitive to begin with.

Just to bring to life an old thread. I've done it again. Chipped another tooth; munching on a Lifesaver. So apparently my teeth are senstive. I already know they are sensitive to hold/cold things they have been for a while even before the CPAP. I've probably drunk a little more pop than what I had. On a odd note my sister also cracked a tooth a couple of weeks ago. Apparently her teeth are very weak. Not good news for me.