Trouble with Mouth Leaks

[BretH]

I think I have tried everything to stop mouth leaks without any luck.
I have tried tape: Drool ruins the adhesive and the tape falls off.
Full face Dreamwear mask: Drool causes loss of seal and the mask starts making strange sounds that wake me up. I also tried a mask liner hoping it would absorb the drool and stop the leaks. Did not help.
Chin straps: Tried several. They seem to help a little with leaks but I sleep worse and am more tired the next day even with less leakage.
I tried a neck collar. This helped stop the leaks some nights and didn't do anything other nights. It was hit or miss and not very comfortable.
I'm pretty sure its mouth leaks because I wake up with a very dry mouth several times a night.
When I use the full face mask, my AHI goes way up. With all the leaks and only the nasal mask, my AHI is very low. I am wondering if the low AHI is real or if it just can't measure the apnea's because of all the leaks?
I have attached 2 SleepyHead reports.

This one dated 12/27 is typical with the nasal mask.

Nasal Dreamwear Mask

screenshot-20181228-170210.png (319.18 KiB) Viewed 2074 times

This one from 12/2 was with the full face mask.

Full Face Dreamwear Mask

screenshot-20181228-170149.png (309.84 KiB) Viewed 2074 times

I sleep with a night guard and I think this may cause me to drool more than most people.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[zonker]

I think I have tried everything to stop mouth leaks without any luck.
<snip>
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

may i suggest this?

viewtopic/p1089718/viewtopic.php?f=1&t= ... s#p1086296

worked like a champ for me. maybe it could work for you?

[djams]

When switching masks , are you changing the mask type in the clinical menu?

[accrn]

When switching masks , are you changing the mask type in the clinical menu?

Is that universal for all machines, or just the one the OP is using? After reading your comment I went and looked through my menu (because I have changed masks multiple times and never done this) and I have a little mask symbol with numbers and I can't figure out what they mean... have downloaded the user guide and I still can't figure out how the numbers correspond to mask type. I'm sorry I'm so clueless.

[BretH]

When switching masks , are you changing the mask type in the clinical menu?

Yes, I changed the mask type.

[BretH]

I think I have tried everything to stop mouth leaks without any luck.
<snip>
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

may i suggest this?

viewtopic/p1089718/viewtopic.php?f=1&t= ... s#p1086296

worked like a champ for me. maybe it could work for you?

Thanks, just ordered some. They will come Sunday and I'll give it a try.

[djams]

When switching masks , are you changing the mask type in the clinical menu?

Is that universal for all machines, or just the one the OP is using? After reading your comment I went and looked through my menu (because I have changed masks multiple times and never done this) and I have a little mask symbol with numbers and I can't figure out what they mean... have downloaded the user guide and I still can't figure out how the numbers correspond to mask type. I'm sorry I'm so clueless.

I don't know the answer to this. Is your manual the user guide or clinical guide? I'd think the clinical guide would tell what the numbers mean.

[zonker]

Thanks, just ordered some. They will come Sunday and I'll give it a try.

oh! most excellent. please let me know if it works for you. i've done a few "mods" on what jay 1st proposed there.

good luck!

[accrn]

When switching masks , are you changing the mask type in the clinical menu?

Is that universal for all machines, or just the one the OP is using? After reading your comment I went and looked through my menu (because I have changed masks multiple times and never done this) and I have a little mask symbol with numbers and I can't figure out what they mean... have downloaded the user guide and I still can't figure out how the numbers correspond to mask type. I'm sorry I'm so clueless.

I don't know the answer to this. Is your manual the user guide or clinical guide? I'd think the clinical guide would tell what the numbers mean.

I found a thread that addresses this. Apparently it really doesn't matter too much on my machine since I'm using a ResMed mask.
viewtopic/t113696/Dreamstation--Mask-Type-Setting.html

[BretH]

Thanks, just ordered some. They will come Sunday and I'll give it a try.

oh! most excellent. please let me know if it works for you. i've done a few "mods" on what jay 1st proposed there.

good luck!

So I have been working on some sort of mouth leak stopper device for a while. I was close but couldn’t find a good way to keep it in the right place until you suggested the Scunci. Then, everything kind of fell into place.

First, I did a 3D scan of my face with my mask on. I also taped an object of known size to my forehead so I could scale the scan to the correct size. Then I eliminated all the area where I didn’t want the mask and converted the scan into a 5mm wide mask that covers and fits perfectly around my mouth area.

ScanFaceAndMask.jpg (82.17 KiB) Viewed 1965 times

I then printed the mask on my 3D printer in nylon material so it would be smooth and somewhat soft. The mask goes slightly under my chin to help keep my mouth closed. I cut a hole in the scunci and inserted the mask. I decided not to use the earholes since I woke up at 2:30AM with sore ears. I think it works better without the earholes. I placed the strap just above my ears. I just put the top of the scunci more towards the top of my head. That way it pulls more up and is better able to keep my jaw from opening. I may add some type of strap to keep the top of the scunci in place if needed.

Mask.jpg (290.17 KiB) Viewed 1965 times

I have used it for only one night but it looks good so far. This is my report form last night. No major leaks, yeah!

screenshot-20190101-065257.png (304.47 KiB) Viewed 1965 times

[zonker]

<snip>
So I have been working on some sort of mouth leak stopper device for a while. I was close but couldn’t find a good way to keep it in the right place until you suggested the Scunci. Then, everything kind of fell into place.
<snip>

holeee catttss! that is astonishing!! i can't believe the amount of work you put into that.

have you considered doing this as a business?

seriously, i think you are on to something here.

[BretH]

<snip>
So I have been working on some sort of mouth leak stopper device for a while. I was close but couldn’t find a good way to keep it in the right place until you suggested the Scunci. Then, everything kind of fell into place.
<snip>

holeee catttss! that is astonishing!! i can't believe the amount of work you put into that.

have you considered doing this as a business?

seriously, i think you are on to something here.

The process is actually not too much work once figured out. I do a lot of 3D printing anyway. It would be fun to do for others, but, scanning people all over the US would be difficult. I suppose there might be quite a few people in the LA area.

[Jay Aitchsee]

Perfect!!
Great Job!


For those of us without printers, do you think there is a material that could be cut to size and molded to the face? I'm thinking of something like a sheet of silicone type material like that used for boil and bite mouth guards.


And speaking of 3D printers, there was an outfit in Florida that purported to make cpap face masks from scans. IIRC they charged quite a bit. A Google search might turn them up.


Perhaps you should talk with Karen from Pad a Cheek. Maybe you could partner with her to make your device marketable.

[djams]

Perhaps you should talk with Karen from Pad a Cheek. Maybe you could partner with her to make your device marketable.

Or at least research a patent on "custom fitted cpap masks by 3d scanning". So when the big players start offering this, BrettH gets paid.

Very impressed. Nicely done BrettH!

[BretH]

Perfect!!

For those of us without printers, do you think there is a material that could be cut to size and molded to the face? I'm thinking of something like a sheet of silicone type material like that used for boil and bite mouth guards.

You could definitely do this with molds, but that would require quite a bit of work and knowledge of materials. If you have ever seen Face-off on the Syfy channel, they would be able to create a silicone prosthetic but would need to create a positive first and then mold the mask on the positive face and then create a negative mold of both. Not too practical.
All the heat moldable material I’m aware of would be too hard to shape around soft face tissue, but I’m not really a materials expert. You could just use a soft silicone material or gel and let it conform. Maybe a thin dense memory foam would worK? It wouldn’t apply much force to keep the face in a specific location but it would conform and seal the leaks.