How do I know if I am a mouth breather?

I am new to using a cpap - started about 2 months ago. I have tried several different mask types and found the p30i to be the most comfortable for me. My scores on the myAir app have been good however I think I might be a mouth breather.

My question is how would I know if I am a mouth breather or should I not even worry about it if the myAir scores are good?

cooper1test wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 19, 2023 9:27 am

I think I might be a mouth breather.

What makes you think that?

You would notice 2 things if you're a mouth breather.
Your mouth would be extremely dry during the night and in the morning, and you would probably notice an increase in leaks.

IIRC myAir scores leak rates based on an excess of 24 L/min. You'll get the smiley face if you stay under that threshold.

Do you mostly breathe through your nose during the day? If you do, then you can almost certainly do the same at night.

When I first got my cpap I had a hard time keeping mouth closed while trying to go to sleep. However I now wonder if maybe I was to focused on it and should just let myself fall asleep without worrying about my mouth.

If your first mask was not a full face one, you possibly mouth breathed, with dryness in the a.m. as was said above, but otherwise why worry until you have a reason to.

A nose breather by day, I move to mouth breathing during sleep intermittently. I know I have mouth breathed through the night due to waking with a totally dry mouth. When I rarely wake without a dry mouth, for whatever the reason, I breathed through my nose most of the night.

During my second sleep test I was wakened by a tech who say I was a mouth breather so my mask was swapped out for a full face and has been full face for over 10 years.

Mouth breathing and snoring never produced this ultra dry mouth I get with CPAP therapy. It must be the airflow from the machine. Taping, chin strap, moisture making tablets, moisture mouth washes, and collar did not work out for me so I gave up on trying to stop it.

Mouth breathing is sometimes a habit that forms while dealing with apnea.
With cpap, I no longer needed to mouth breathe, so it dwindled way down.
If you breathe through your nose by day, it will become easier at night with cpap.
Use the mask that YOU like, for YOUR comfort.
Is somebody trying to get you to use a full face mask?
Does myAir even show leak data?

When I started using CPAP with a fixed 7cm setting, mouth breathing was not an issue even with a nasal pillow. 7 years later after another sleep study, my set pressure went to 7-15cm and that started my struggle with mouth breathing. I would wake up with a totally dry mouth - that's how I knew I was mouth breathing!