new dental appliance

I started with a dental applicance for sleep apnea in the past few weeks. I cannot keep my mouth comfortably closed over the appliance? Am I supposed to be able to keep my mouth closed? Recently I have been able to fall asleep with it but wake up numerous times a night with a very painful dry throat...I am almost gagging from the dryness. The waking up is just as bad as it was before using the appliance. Any suggestions?

There are a couple of dentists who frequent this site who will be able to provide more information than an amateur such as myself BUT the dentist who fitted you will know how and why it was fitted and if improper fitting, which may require some adjustment, would provide relief from your dry mouth symptoms. I personally suspect you are breathing through your mouth. I personally wear an inexpensive "boil and bite" mouth guard to keep my mouth SHUT while wearing a mask and it is pretty effective so am just guessing there is a fitment issue in your case. Just guessing.

I have the same problem with my oral appliance. I get dry mouth with it if I don't use a chin strap. If you breathe through your mouth when sleeping you will get dry mouth. You can try the over the counter dry mouth remedies, but if they don't work, a chin strap is probably your best bet. Dr. Louisi, a dentist who frequents this site, recommended an intra oral mouth shield to me to prevent mouth breathing, but I don't know if it would work with your particular device. I am using a TAP 3 oral appliance.

Hi! I am a dentist working in dental sleep medicine. One requirement of a good oral sleep apnea appliance is that the patient be able to have full lip closure and seal with the appliance in place without strain. That being the case, you have a legitimate complaint in my view. If you can not attain comfortable lip closure, the chances are that the appliance is simply too big for your mouth. Oral appliances vary quite strikingly in bulk. If you tell me what you have, I can give you some idea of the relative bulk of your appliance. You need to have a conference with your dentist concerning your problem. Perhaps he can cut down the bulk of your appliance to make it more comfortable. Failing that, you may have to consider another brand that is less bulky. I do think that your mouth would be somewhat less dry with a good lip seal around the appliance. You can also try OTC mouth moisturizers, like the Biotene products. Another thing that is critically important is to be sure that you can breathe through your nose extremely well. People with excellent nasal patency tend to breathe much less through their mouths. If you have any doubt about your situation, an assessment trip to an ENT would definitely be in order. I hope that this information helps you. Arthur B. Luisi, Jr., D.M.D.

I think the mouth issue is likely universal regardless of therapy method. While Dr. Luisi finds Biotene products useful, when I was having leaking air due my mouth being opened, I tried EVERY Biotene product and found none to be helpful. Rinsing in the morning with their mouth rinse came closest to helpful but not very much. I used a product called Xylimelts which are little candy like disks you stick on your gum in the rear of your mouth and those were actually pretty helpful. They lasted all night. Not sure if that type dry-mouth solution would work with a dental appliance. Also they are expensive but then anything marketed towards dry mouth mitigation seems a bit pricey.

None of the OTC products for dry mouth, to include Xylimelts, worked for me with my oral appliance. A chin strap works, but it can cause sores in the mouth if too tight. I hate to wear one because one of the reasons I went from CPAP to oral appliance was to keep it simple.