Painful results when wearing my Oral Appliance with upper dentures

I have not been able to wear the appliance all night. I have returned to my oral appliance dentist weekly for adjustments. the bottom appliance wears tight but not uncomfortable. My problem is the upper appliance. It was custom made by wearing my upper denture with the appliance. A few hours after asleep, there is a shooting pain at a certain section on my upper gums. I was advised to use Polident to grip onto my gums so there will be no movement to irritate my gums. I tried that, but the pain return at the certain area.

I have searched for this subject on the forum. Now I'm concerned if I should not wear an appliance since I have upper dentures and have 8 bottom teeth.

I hope I'm not alone with this situation.

Frustrated......Gagagadget

Hi! I am a dentist working in dental sleep medicine. I understand your dilemma. I have had the same problem with my patients who have a full upper denture. Theoretically, people really should have at least eight teeth in both the upper and lower arch. Most oral appliances are designed to fit on teeth only, but a few can be adapted to full upper dentures. I have done a few like that myself. The problem usually is that the denture has to hold the lower jaw forward to open the airway and that generally puts excessive pressure in the tissues in the front of the maxillary gum ridge just below the lower lip. I have found no way around it, thus far. Some people just tolerate it, if they can and, others go back on CPAP. The only better answer I know is to support the upper denture with some dental implants. That can work, but is quite expensive to do. You need to consult your dentist about it. Arthur B, Luisi, Jr,D.M.D.