Dream Tap Anxiety

Question. Does anyone else get anxiety/panic attacks with the Dream Tap? Anyone fear the device will get stuck and won’t come out? What about the feeling of claustrophobia when it’s in your mouth? Looking for personal stories of how people have gotten beyond this kind of anxiety. Thanks in advance.

I am a dentist working in dental sleep medicine. Yes, there are other patients with the same concerns. First of all, the device should be firmly on the teeth and there should be some resistance to removal, but you should not have a life and death struggle to get it out. If you do, it could just be on too tight. You need to make an appointment with your sleep dentist to loosen it up somewhat. It can be done. Secondly, make sure that you do not try to remove it bilaterally(from both posterior sides at once). this is very hard to do. Instead start by removing it from one posterior side or the other and just "peel" it off. Thirdly, when you start to remove the DreamTap, open your jaws gently(don't hurt your TMJs) to put tension on the trays. They remove more easily that way. Fourthly, if all else fails, you can spray a bit of original Pam cooking spray on the inside of the trays. That will grease them up and they remove more easily that way. If you are getting too much saliva in your mouth and that is making you uncomfortable, ask your dentist if taking one OTC Benadryl before bedtime is O.K. for you. If it is, that would greatly help that problem. People can usually ween themselves off the Benadryl in about a week. These suggestions should get the job done for you. If they don't, perhaps you need have another consultation with the dentist. A few people just can't get past the feeling that the two trays are joined. If so, your dentist may need to go to another design where the two trays are not joined and you can open and close your mouth. Arthur B. Luisi, Jr., D.M.D., The Naples Center For Dental Sleep Medicine