two questions about Tap Pap

[surf_rower]

I am doing pretty well with Swift Nasal pillows after 4 months, but when it shifts (usually when I turn onto my side), the air makes a bit of noise and I wake up and have to adjust the pillows, hose, and/or my position. Has anyone switched to Tap Pap and found that this shifting of the pillows no longer occurs? Second question: The Tap Pap website has a tips section that states that it is not suitable if one front tooth protrudes. I have one front tooth that is just slightly protruding. Anyone here successfully using Tap Pap with a slightly protruding front tooth? I guess I should ask my dentist. Do dentists tend to know about Tap Pap? Sorry, that was three questions.

[Pugsy]

The Tap Pap pillows simply don't move on me once I get them adjusted just right. I have to do the angle thing each night. I find it extra work to leave the mouth guard in position and try to put it back on..too crowded. I can do it but it's easier to just readjust for me. The hard plastic part of the pillow base just doesn't move and keeps the nasal pillows from moving. At least for me but then I didn't have a lot of movement with the Swift FX.

I don't know how much of your front tooth is "slightly protruding" but I would think if it is minor it would work. If there is a big difference then there might be a problem getting both teeth in the mouth guard for fitting. You know if one tooth is normal and the other tooth you could eat corn on the cob with and ever use the other tooth thing.
Both front teeth need to be able to fit in the mouth guard together...there is a little wiggle room there for teeth being a little bit of out of line.

I doubt most dentists will know about the Tap Pap mask. Mine didn't and he is no stranger to sleep apnea....but not extremely well versed either.

The Tap Pap comes with free return insurance from cpap.com. Return insurance includes a postage paid shipping label for returning than can be printed (it comes in an email to you where you go to the label and print it off) so if it doesn't work you are out nothing.

[ughwhatname]

I am doing pretty well with Swift Nasal pillows after 4 months, but when it shifts (usually when I turn onto my side), the air makes a bit of noise and I wake up and have to adjust the pillows, hose, and/or my position. Has anyone switched to Tap Pap and found that this shifting of the pillows no longer occurs? Second question: The Tap Pap website has a tips section that states that it is not suitable if one front tooth protrudes. I have one front tooth that is just slightly protruding. Anyone here successfully using Tap Pap with a slightly protruding front tooth? I guess I should ask my dentist. Do dentists tend to know about Tap Pap? Sorry, that was three questions.

I had an identical experience with the swift FX mask and continually needing to shift it during the night. I switched to tap Pap and absolutely love it. Unlike Pugsy though, I don't adjust the mouthpiece, but leave it in place. I just pop it in my mouth, make any minor adjustments to how the pillows seat on my nose, and I'm good to go.

Since you do have the return insurance opportunity, I would just try it and see if it works for your mouth. I doubt I would be 100% compliant today if not for the tap pap mask.

[Bobshouse]

I used the Breeze for years and have recently changed to the TapPap. While having a few leaks over the night with the Breeze, the Tappap has been rock solid. One of my insizors stick out a little further than my other teeth, but have not had any fitting problems.

The Tappap mouthpiece replaced my mouthpiece that I wore at night to prevent gritting my teeth, so I adjusted quickly.

Sleepyhead and rescan confirms that with the Tappap, no leakage throughout the night. The Breeze shows several peaks throughout the night as I move or rollover. Im a stomach/side sleeper so the Tappap has been great, I wish I had found out about it earlier.

The only problem I've had lately is the same as one user identified in a earlier post. The swivel connector, when under stress, will not swivel adequately and twists the tube putting stress on your teeth.

I also have the Swift, the problem with it is the headgear. It runs along your cheek and will move if your face rubs against your pillow, causing leaks.

Like the others have said, try a Tappap from cpap.com. Its currently on sale and has the free return option if it doesn't work for you.

[surf_rower]

Very helpful replies, everybody. Sounds like I should order the thing and see what happens. Thanks so much.

[BigBennyB]

I've decided to order a Tap Pap as well to give it a try. I have never used nasal pillows before, but after feeling the bulkiness of the Quattro for the 2 weeks I've used it so far makes me want to see what all the fuss is about!

Thankfully cpap.com offers the 30day no-questions-asked return on the mask free of charge for it, so it's really a no-lose scenario as far as I'm concerned. Either I get a new mask I like or I send it back and I'm not out any money.

[khauser]

Definitely worth a try. They say "People who have 1 or 2 upper teeth that are positioned more forward than the rest of the upper teeth (1 or 2 upper teeth that stick out)" are not good candidates. I have two teeth that are somewhat forward ... enough that I can feel it and see it, but not so much that they slide over other teeth.

With the original mouth piece this produced a very tight fit ... tight enough that in the morning I had difficulty removing it. With that mouthpiece I re-boiled it and purposely bit down hard in front and a little less firm in the back. It seems counterproductive, but the stuff is made to contract as it cools so what I ended up with is a bite where the front was higher than the back. The result was a very tight fitting piece that could be remove easily by prying from the back (per instructions) and sliding down and out at the same time.

With the new, current bite piece that whole problem went away, because it doesn't use the front teeth as much. I will say the new piece is SLIGHTLY less stable for me. That's slightly less stable than the old mouth piece, yet FAR MORE stable than any other mask I've tried ... just to keep this in context.

I know better than to "get religious" on this issue, but for me the Tap Pap is SO MUCH BETTER than any other mask I feel it is in a class by itself. If a person doesn't need a full face mask this is what I'd recommend every time.

[Pugsy]

Just wanted to mention to anyone trying the Tap Pap for the first time.
The instructions say to boil to soften the mouth guard and then place it in the mouth and suck......word of caution...don't suck too much. I did that the first time...you know if a little sucking works then it must be better to suck a lot kind of thing because a lot of us tend to over do this cpap stuff......
Not the thing to do. We suck too much and the mouth guard acts like a girdle that is too tight and it's hard to remove and put back on.
Just do a little gentle sucking...and don't be afraid to soften it again if you don't get it quite right the first time.

[nanwilson]

Tappap.. no headgear, no straps on the face.... FREEDOM!!! I love my tappap so much, I bought another one last month when cpap.com had it on sale.. now I have two. Best darn mask I have used in the 3+ years I been on the machine, and believe me I have gone through a lot of them . For those of you that are wary.. I am missing both upper eye teeth and wisdom teeth and my two front teeth protrude a bit on the next two teeth. It took me a bit of experimentation to get the mouth piece to fit right as the two missing eye teeth made the mouth guard cave into the holes, but with prying the plastic outward before it cooled completely did the trick. Don't be afraid to try it, you will not be disappointed with the results.
Cheers
Nan

[BasementDwellingGeek]

don't suck too much

words to live by!