Oral appliance designed to stop mouth leaking?

[Suddenly Worn Out]

Is there a custom made oral appliance that is designed just or mainly to stop mouth leak? So you can continue using nasal masks instead of using full face masks? If so, what are the oral appliances called? Is it a subtype of oral appliance? I know most oral appliances are to open the airway and move the lower jaw forward and all that so some people who dont want to use CPAP dont have to use CPAP. But what Im looking for is JUST an OA to stop the leak.

I read in the book "Sleep Apnea The Phantom of the Night" that you can combine a custom made oral appliance with nasal CPAP if you have mouth leak. Thats where I got the idea from. Im trying to get away from a full face mask, if that is possible. I cant take the tight straps anymore or the tight compression on my , neck, face and sinuses anymore.

thanks,

Eric

[49er]

Hi Eric,

Are you thinking of the Tap Pap?

http://amisleep.com/patients-treatment- ... n-therapy/

49er

Is there a custom made oral appliance that is designed just or mainly to stop mouth leak? So you can continue using nasal masks instead of using full face masks? If so, what are the oral appliances called? Is it a subtype of oral appliance? I know most oral appliances are to open the airway and move the lower jaw forward and all that so some people who dont want to use CPAP dont have to use CPAP. But what Im looking for is JUST an OA to stop the leak.

I read in the book "Sleep Apnea The Phantom of the Night" that you can combine a custom made oral appliance with nasal CPAP if you have mouth leak. Thats where I got the idea from. Im trying to get away from a full face mask, if that is possible. I cant take the tight straps anymore or the tight compression on my , neck, face and sinuses anymore.

thanks,

Eric

[LSAT]

There's a tape for that!

[Treehorn]

My wife is a dentist and I had her make something for me that I dreamed up.

If you can imagine a mouthguard used in sports. But they typically only have an impression of the upper teeth and allow you to open and close your mouth.

This had more material and had an impression of your lower teeth also. It worked great at keeping my jaw shut.

I personally abandoned it for a few reasons. 1. My cheeks were puffing up like a chipmunk and finding its way out around the appliance. 2. I was getting a bit clostrophobic 3. (most importantly) I tried a full face mask and liked it.

I think the idea it may work for the right person, it just didnt work for me. A chin strap didnt work for me either. If a chin strap works for you I suspect this may work.

On another note, she has made me a number of snoring devices (mandibular advancement) that I only use when traveling on planes or trains. I now have an apap machine and I have been meaning to do a personal study to see if wearing my mandibular advancement device in conjunction with cpap would lower my required pressure. If this "theory" proves positive, those with really high pressure could get come relief by wearing a device with thier machine.

I am spoiled however because I dont have to pay the high $$$ to experiment with these things. The real barrier to most dental products is the high price relative to the low chance of success. I have yet to hear of a dentist who offers money back guarantees

[SleepingUgly]

Treehorn, which MADs have you tried?

[SleepingUgly]

The problem with an oral appliance is that even if you keep your jaw shut, you can leak out of your mouth. I think some very low mouth leakers may be able to manage with just an double channel boil and bite mouth guard (like the sporting good kind), but many people will leak anyway.

[Loreena]

I use the Somnodent with the Pilairo nasal pillow mask every night. It's the only way I can avoid aerophagia (I can use lower pressure). I also use the deluxe-style chinstrap and a foam cervical collar to make sure all bases are covered, and there are backup measures in place (I'm paranoid ). Most important, I use poligrip on my lips in order to maintain a lip seal, and it works perfectly. I know this sounds like a lot, but it's become second nature to me now and I sleep just fine. You do what you gotta do.

[SleepingUgly]

I use the Somnodent with the Pilairo nasal pillow mask every night. It's the only way I can avoid aerophagia (I can use lower pressure). I also use the deluxe-style chinstrap and a foam cervical collar to make sure all bases are covered, and there are backup measures in place (I'm paranoid ). Most important, I use poligrip on my lips in order to maintain a lip seal, and it works perfectly. I know this sounds like a lot, but it's become second nature to me now and I sleep just fine. You do what you gotta do.

So your mouth drops open with the Somnodent?

[Loreena]

There's nothing preventing your jaw from dropping open. But using it makes it easier to keep the jaw closed, because I think the feel of it makes me want to "bite" on it. Sorry, I don't know how to better explain it. With the lower jaw thrust forward makes it easier to keep the mouth closed, I think--just guessing. When I don't use it, my mouth falls open a lot easier.

[Suddenly Worn Out]

Ive never seen that. It totally stops mouth leaking? It appears to blow the air into the mouth, like say, that Oracle mouth piece? The thing is, does air come out of the nose then? If you blow in air via the mouth and air comes out the nose, its like a reverse of what I already experience with nasal masks alone.

I will check that out closer. Thanks.


Eric

Hi Eric,

Are you thinking of the Tap Pap?

http://amisleep.com/patients-treatment- ... n-therapy/

49er

Is there a custom made oral appliance that is designed just or mainly to stop mouth leak? So you can continue using nasal masks instead of using full face masks? If so, what are the oral appliances called? Is it a subtype of oral appliance? I know most oral appliances are to open the airway and move the lower jaw forward and all that so some people who dont want to use CPAP dont have to use CPAP. But what Im looking for is JUST an OA to stop the leak.

I read in the book "Sleep Apnea The Phantom of the Night" that you can combine a custom made oral appliance with nasal CPAP if you have mouth leak. Thats where I got the idea from. Im trying to get away from a full face mask, if that is possible. I cant take the tight straps anymore or the tight compression on my , neck, face and sinuses anymore.

thanks,

Eric

[Suddenly Worn Out]

That TAP PAP device appears to have a slit in the middle of the mouthpiece. That would let air escape and decrease pressure in the airway. Im aware that the TAP would reposition the lower jaw differently, so my pressures would most likely go down. But I would still have the core, underlying problem of air escaping out of the mouth.

Do they make a TAP with no slit that uses total nasal CPAP? I think thats what I'd get best results with. I get good clinical results with CPAP/APAP, but the strap and full face mask compression side effects have gotten too much to tolerate. I think I need something that would allow me to continue with CPAP/APAP but get rid of the straps either entirely or straps that fit very loosely, like say with a Resmed Nasal Activa mask. Chinstraps and mouth taping do not cut it for me.

I made an appointment with a dentist who does oral appliances today. Got the referral from my sleep medicine doctor last week.

Eric

[SleepingUgly]

Can't the regular TAP be used with CPAP?

[kaiasgram]

SWO I have three of those boil & bite mouth guards that are supposed to help you keep your mouth closed. I had seen them on Lanky Lefty's video review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8tuVqAd8RI

I never tried them because I got pretty comfortable with my taping routine and I have a night guard my dentist custom made for me that I prefer to stick with. If you don't mind paying for shipping I'd be happy to send them to you. I know I won't be using them.

[Treehorn]

I currently have Silencer and it works to stop me from snoring. I am thinking about trying the Somnodent to see if I like it because it allows you to open your mouth and talk. This is a benifit to me because I only use oral devices to prevent snoring while flying and its nice to be able to talk to a flight attendant. I dont use them at night to treat sleep apnea, I get better results with CPAP and a full face mask.

In my opinion, if your goal is to try and keep your mouth shut you dont need to spend the big pricetag on a oral device that advances your lower jaw and most that I have seen will still allow air to flow out between the upper and lower jaws so they are not appropriate for this use anyway. A boil and bite that covers both upper and lower teeth is what you need for this application. Looks like kaiasgram has found a place where you can find a boil at home one. I think if you wanted to get something from your dentist you would ask for a bimaxillary mouthguard and make sure to ask them to not put any air holes inbetween the upper and lower jaws.

Loreena, that is interesting that your using Somnodent to lower pressure. Have you been able to quantify the reduction in pressure? I.e. pressure with the Somnodent and pressure without?

[Loreena]

Loreena, that is interesting that your using Somnodent to lower pressure. Have you been able to quantify the reduction in pressure? I.e. pressure with the Somnodent and pressure without?

In order to feel really good during the day, and I'll expect no less, I need to have a nonaerophagia night and an AHI around 0.5 or less. If I don't use the Somnodent, I will need to have an auto range of 13.5 to 16, and the apneas seem to last between 5 and 10 seconds longer than they do than when I use the Somnodent (I think), hence making me feel not as well, plus 75% of the time I wake up too early with aerophagia (which definitely will contribute to some daytime sleepiness)--plus!--the AHI is usually around 1.0. With the Somnodent, I can use straight cpap at 11, but I set it on 11 to 14 in case I flip over on my back, which I rarely do, so I use the auto range as a "backup" measure. Many folks seem to do fine with AHIs in the 1 to 2 range, and if that were the case with me, I could use cpap at pressure of 9 or even lower. I tried not using the Somnodent for a few weeks, but it was awful not feeling consistently well--one night was not so good, the next night was better. That got old real fast. Also, I don't really have the Somnodent advanced very far. I only need it advanced enough for it to work with a pressure of 11 and it feels perfectly comfortable, in relative terms.