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Training Yourself to stop Mouth Breathing?
#81
RE: Training Yourself to stop Mouth Breathing?
Another problem with mouth breathing............

It plays havoc on your teeth.

I am, said with humility, a very attractive woman, well dressed, well finished, one who always appeared to have money, even though I personally never did.
I mention the above for this year at the relatively young age of 54 I have encountered a huge problem with my teeth that is now going to lead to about 7 having to be extracted, which will lead to the necessary addition of dentures, something i am told NO ONE wants to have to deal with. And i am certainly the last person one would expect to have this problem.
But i am not wealthy enough to lay out $40,000 or so in dentistry bills, especially at this age. If i were 25 I would have done what was necessary to have done so but not at my age.

Not only do I brush my teeth as expected, I also floss and then use a tool ( not sure of its name) that has a tiny round brush set of bristles at the end and after flossing I use that to get traces remaining out from between teeth or the gums.
But somewhere along the line I have had an infection go below the gum but for some reason I was not told of this until it was too late.
Had I known what I was told recently, I would have also been going to a..........oh dear, I forget their names, but a dentist that cleans below the gums by knocking you out i think..........


The basis of this was why I was sent for a sleep apnea test to begin with because what I am now discovering I have, is caused by mouth breathing. They could not understand why my teeth were suddenly experiencing a very high instance of cavities..

Its an added shame for I have beautiful teeth.....or soon to be "had".....the problems aren't in the front but the molars in the back but besides any infection below the gums, the bone has become much weaker, holding the molars........I have been told that when you are a mouth breather the saliva that is in your mouth protects your teeth but when you are dry as I apparently was all the time due to breathing that way, it exasperates the problem twenty fold........


So for any of you that are mouth breathers, especially if you are under 50, make sure you are getting the type of tooth cleaning that goes deep below your gum line.
Secondly there is a mouth wash, very expensive but it will help to increase the saliva in your mouth.
Thirdly, when you are just sitting, not talking, watching TV, reading, whatever, make sure you are swishing your mouth and creating saliva.
If only a dentist had warned me of the possible problem ahead, when I was 40'ish I could have done of extra things to prevent it and if I could have trained myself to sleep with my mouth closed, I would have been far better off now.

Unfortunately it seems that this is only become big news now. I don't know if it is something extremely common these days in my age group but for the first time I am seeing television commercials about the necessity of making sure you are creating saliva if your mouth is dry from mouth breathing...........

For this reason I could NOT accept dry mouth from FF masks.......it creates a breeding ground for bacteria...
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#82
RE: Training Yourself to stop Mouth Breathing?
(05-23-2014, 11:00 AM)ShelaghDB Wrote: I am, said with humility, a very attractive woman

[sarcasm on]

You'd look more attractive if you sat up straight with your head not cocked to one side. Didn't your mother tell you that when you were a kid? Mine did.

[Image: avatar_15798.jpg?dateline=1400858150]

[sarcasm off]

Okay, I'm just messin' with 'ya because I know you can handle it. Bigwink

Too-funny

Yeah, I'm in a snarky mood today, sorry. Bag-head

Hey wait... maybe it's me that's crooked, not your picture. Blink
SuperSleeper
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#83
RE: Training Yourself to stop Mouth Breathing?
I believe you are absolutely correct about the connection between dry mouth and dental problems. And that's my main concern. I'm anxious to see how this new chin strap works. Rinsing your mouth in the morning seems to me to be inadequate for teeth and gums that have been dry all night.

It's interesting that you say that the pressure of the nasal mask below your nose seemed to help keep your month closed. For me the FF mask which seems to put pressure below my lips, seems to be of benefit to me.

Again, we're all different and I'm hoping this new chin strap does the trick.


Phil
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#84
RE: Training Yourself to stop Mouth Breathing?
(01-21-2013, 11:49 AM)SuperSleeper Wrote: Seems we have a lot of folks lately who claim to be "mouth breathers" who therefore "need" a full face mask to use CPAP effectively.

But I remember reading a while back that someone had come up with a "method" or "procedure" for "training themselves" to stop mouth breathing over a period of a few weeks, and eliminating the need for a full face mask, but I can't find that post now.

If you know the procedure I'm talking about, could you post that procedure/method here in this thread? (just post the text, if you would, remembering that commercial links aren't allowed on the forum).

I think that method could help a lot of folks here, if someone can find and post it.

Huh

I know this is an older post but I am studying a breathing method designed by a Dr. Buteyko.
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.
"
Hillary Cooper
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#85
RE: Training Yourself to stop Mouth Breathing?
Here's my description of the how-to method:

  1. Place the tip of your tongue behind your top front teeth and let it rest against the roof of your mouth.
  2. Relax your tongue and let the sides spread out against the inside of your top molars.
  3. By sucking in ever so slightly you should be able to create a seal and a vacuum that gets you breathing through your nose.
  4. Practice this at first while awake in bed with your mask on while reading or watching TV. Then it will gradually become easier and more automatic to do when you go to sleep.
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