CindyT1954 wrote:I really appreciate the information and help. I am using the ResMed Elite II HumidAire 3i (heated humidifier) with a different mask now a Mirage Swift II nasal pillows system. I was diagnosed in a sleep lab with mild to moderate sleep apnea. My problem has always been I don't seem to sleep very long and never a deep sleep so I was excited to be able to get help and not be so tired all the time. But today I spent my lunch at the endodontist getting a root canal and then went back to work. I do have a lot of crowns and I have three in the front area of mouth on top. I am afraid to use the cpap after my mouth heals. I want the cpap to work for me. I did not have dry mouth and I think my mouth was always closed. I did have that swooshing of air blow out a few times. But I never thought about teeth problems. No one ever mentioned that to me and when I asked the nurse and the store where machine came from they said they never heard of it. I really appreciate any advice. Thank you!
I can't answer why you are having problems with your teeth but it sounds to me as if you have an unusual amount of problems, hence I would be looking towards your dentist for ideas.
I would be more inclined to suggest that your tenderness is in the teeth to begin with and if so, wearing a mask all night, with the straps across your face, etc may be aggravating the pain for you.
I came to Sleep Apnea due to tooth problems. I have beautiful teeth and have spent a lot of money in my earlier years on braces, etc making them so.
But I am a mouth breather and always have been.
Once I hit 45 all of a sudden, out of the blue, I began to get small cavities. Then more too soon after having the first ones fixed so my dentist asked me if I grind my teeth. I don't any more as far as i know but did as a child.
She then asked me if I were a mouth breather and when I said yes she signed me up for a sleep test.
Our mouthes stay healthy with the saliva within.
Any problems like gingivitis will be x 10 if you are a mouth breather, a bit later in life. I doubt in ones 20s one might have the problem but later on as it did with me.
Where something as simple as gingivitis can be dealt with by your dentist, full tooth cleanings with floss used afterwards and then a special little tool that has a small sort of brush at each end which you use to go around all your gums..............when you are a mouth breather IF your mouth is very dry, you MUST do certain things to it.
In my case i fell through the cracks due to changing dentists when I moved around.
I had a very dry mouth made worse by the fact that i don't drink a lot of water,. I don't drink as much as I should, which also has led to kidney stones in the past.
A dentist should have told me much earlier than they did that there were products on the market like BioTene........although an earlier post to me has suggested that is no longer the best product under the circumstances and other ones now are........
On top of using such products, you should also be swishing your mouth with saliva while sitting at the computer, watching TV, etc. Whenever one can, just swish and produce more saliva than is in your mouth at that time.
I don't mean YOU Cindy for you say you aren't a mouth breather.
But it sounds to me as if you have an abnormal amount of problems with your teeth.
I can't say why that is. Only your dentist can but I know from experience if there is a tooth pain in your mouth, the mask being tight applies press to it and makes it feel much worse.
In my cAse i had to have 2 back molars taken out. iF I hadn't caught it in time it might have been more and then a fortune spent having crowns put it, or whatever you call it when you replace a tooth with a fake one screwed in on a post I think it is.
I developed an infection in my gum around those 2 teeth and not aware they were, combined with a very dry mouth, only caused the problem to get much worse.
I will point out that i am well polished person. Dressed well and one that takes pride in my appearance. I say that only to stress that to look at me, you would never think i had or could have tooth problems but I did and i know if i can anyone can if they slip through the cracks and aren't aware of how much damage mouth breathing can be.
For anyone that is a mouth breather, besides using mouthwash to encourage saliva, and to swish it in your mouth ( saliva that is) when sitting watching TV, it might not be enough. If I ever have something with sugar in it, lets say a soft drink, I brush my teeth right away afterwards or as soon as i am home.
I don't let that crap sit on them so I would encourage others to brush more than the 3x daily if they can.
I am only speaking of this for I although i think the Sleep Apnea doctors and/OR even dentists themselves have made a connection between the two, its not being spoken of enough.
I believe more advertising and more campaigns to make people aware of the dangers of a dry mouth are needed.
But in your case, since u say you aren't a mouth breather, I have to guess that something else is going on but whatever it is you need to speak to your dentist and find out if you aren't doing enough of something............to have caused that many problems but for sure IF your teeth are not doing well, I have no doubt that the mask straps would aggravate the pain.
my solution to that "cottonmouth" feeling was to find a double-walled covered mug with its own straw. I fill it half-full each night and set it on a small stool about 3 feet from the bed so that when I wake up at night I can pull the hose connector off the mask and use the straw to take a couple of sips... and in the morning a bunch of sips. If your connector isn't in the right position, you might need flexible straws for this purpose. I can say that now, after nearly 6 months, I'm hardly noticing my dry mouth, to the point that I often forget to fill the mug.
Interesting. I shall have to try that as well. Good idea