Tap Pap and Dentist

So yesterday was the bi-annual teeth cleaning / checkup, and I dragged along my Tap Pap (actually, just the mouth part) to show my dentist. He is familiar with my CPAP requirement, as I had talked to him about the other dental mask that was around 2 years ago but lacked this mask's stability.

He was REALLY impressed with how well the acrylic had molded to my teeth. He said it even covers part of the flesh and does so without causing any irritation ... they generally try to trim away that part when they custom-make dental guards because it can irritate. His only suggestion, and he wasn't at all sure about this, was about storage. Apparently he advises patients to store their dental guard in a container, wet, and possibly with a little listerine. He says it WILL discolor it over time, but he's found that the guards can acquire a bad smell otherwise.

He's talking about a several hundred dollar appliance that most people hope will last many years, whereas theoretically we could just get a new mask if this one fails for whatever reason (including stinking) ... but it does have me thinking. After all, it took me five tries to get it to fit well, and the Tap Pap *is* produced by other than Respironics and ResMed, so there's little to no guarantee how much staying power this one has. (Warning, if I hear they are going out of business I *WILL* try to buy a fair number of whatever I can find!)

Thoughts?

Hmmmm. Hadn't thought about stinking because it hasn't come up yet. I could see that happening though.

Replacement mouth guard at cpap.com is $35. I doubt it will ever make it to EBay and if it does it's unlikely to be offered at any killer deal prices. Shipping and handling costs suck though...maybe try to take advantage of free shipping that cpap.com offers from time to time or just suck it up and by 3 of them to get free shipping and be done with it for a long time.
Not a budget breaker if I bought a new one every 6 months or so and I didn't really have any problem with the initial boil and bite fitting. I got it comfortable the first try.

Of course the manufacturer is going to want to sell us a new one...that way they make more money.
Soaking it in a bit of mouthwash wouldn't be any huge problem though. I am finding that I pretty much loosen it and readjusting for nasal pillows each night anyway. It's just quicker and easier that way for me.

We wouldn't really have to remove the mouth guard piece from the whole setup though...just loosen it and let is soak in some mouthwash with the other stuff sticking out of the mouthwash.
I would think it would be better to start soaking now if a person was wanting to do the soaking...preventative is easier than cover up a smell I would think. I don't think I would want the nasal pillows to soak though. I have gotten such good life out of any of my nasal pillows with my "less is more" cleaning I don't want to mess with that regiment.
So far about all I do with the mouth guard is a quick cold water rinse first thing in the morning and at bedtime I give it a good brushing with toothpaste when I brush my teeth at bedtime. That way everything has a nice fresh taste.
Nasal pillows just wash about once a week when I think about it and when I do that the whole thing gets a little hand wash with a bit of soap and water...hose and all first thing in the morning (normally Sunday is my cleaning day if I am going to clean my equipment) and let air dry.

Good to hear that the dentist didn't think we were going to make all our teeth fall out or move up our nose with the mouth guard. I really love being able to sleep anywhere on my pillow now instead of just the edge.
Like you if I heard this mask was going out of production...I would be buying several of them to have a stockpile.
I don't see much happening to the hose assembly unless I step on it or Lizzie uses it as a dog chew toy.
It's going to last for years with common sense care. Just like the other short hose assemblies for the other nasal pillow masks.

Pugsy wrote:I am finding that I pretty much loosen it and readjusting for nasal pillows each night anyway. It's just quicker and easier that way for me.

Me too ... much easier than cramming it under my nose. Less leakage, too.

So far about all I do with the mouth guard is a quick cold water rinse first thing in the morning and at bedtime I give it a good brushing with toothpaste when I brush my teeth at bedtime.

That's way more than me. I rinse it every other day or so.

Good to hear that the dentist didn't think we were going to make all our teeth fall out or move up our nose with the mouth guard.

In fact he equated it to any other mouth guard. He predicted that it feels tighter when first put on and looser in the morning. He explained that the thermo-chemical reaction that makes the acrylic work would keep repeating due to body heat, so in the morning it's a little looser (not much) and at night it probably feels tighter (which for me it does).

khauser wrote: He predicted that it feels tighter when first put on and looser in the morning. He explained that the thermo-chemical reaction that makes the acrylic work would keep repeating due to body heat, so in the morning it's a little looser (not much) and at night it probably feels tighter (which for me it does).

Well that makes sense and I never really thought about it that way. Our own body heat will warm it a bit.
I'm like you...it does seem tighter at bedtime than it does in the morning. I was putting it off on just "getting used to it stuff".

I am cautiously optimistic about the guard helping me keep my big trap shut a little better...Recently I have had some near perfect leak nights...like the most it got to was 6 L/min brief spike (on the S9) and didn't want to jinx myself by bragging...but I probably have just now jinxed myself.
Or like with Tuesday night..very short period of time up around 24 L/min but overall 95% number of 7.2 and for me that is really, really good. 90% of the night was at flat line 0.0. I will take that any day of the week.

I just thought I would jump in here and mention I have now completed two nights using my new Tap Pap. I think the instructions said to rinse it each day with cool water and wash it once a week with cool mild soapy water.

I used to wear a acrylic mouthpiece at night and I found pretty easy to use the tooth brush and paste on it. So far I have only rinsed it but I sure don't want it to start stinking.

My thoughts on the Tap Pap, I don't like the air blowing on my arm and wish it channeled the air up towards the top of my head. Other than that, I love this thing!
I don't use the head gear.

I don't have a TapPap but I wonder if soaking it in denture cleaner would work. No abrasives that way.

I wonder if a little hydrogen peroxide in the rinse water would be a good idea.
My hose hanger is working pretty well with this "mask".

My custom nightguard is about 18 years old. I still remember when the dentist who made it asked me how I thought I should clean it. I guessed, "Toothpaste?" and he said, "No, soap." I guess that makes sense because it's not teeth, it's plastic, but I must have been annoyed I got the question wrong if I remember it this many years later! I use a toothbrush (not the one for my teeth, as I don't like the taste of soap) and a little liquid soap to brush it every morning. I store it submerged in water when it's not in my mouth.

I can't speak to the Tap Pap, but this has worked well for my nightguard.

SleepingUgly wrote:My custom nightguard is about 18 years old. I still remember when the dentist who made it asked me how I thought I should clean it. I guessed, "Toothpaste?" and he said, "No, soap." I guess that makes sense because it's not teeth, it's plastic, but I must have been annoyed I got the question wrong if I remember it this many years later! I use a toothbrush (not the one for my teeth, as I don't like the taste of soap) and a little liquid soap to brush it every morning. I store it submerged in water when it's not in my mouth.

I can't speak to the Tap Pap, but this has worked well for my nightguard.

Do you have to worry about not using hot water, can't really use hot water on the Tap Pap or you would be reforming all the time..

Soap is hard to rinse off with cold water so I'll try warm water.

Bryansong

bryansong wrote:

SleepingUgly wrote:My custom nightguard is about 18 years old. I still remember when the dentist who made it asked me how I thought I should clean it. I guessed, "Toothpaste?" and he said, "No, soap." I guess that makes sense because it's not teeth, it's plastic, but I must have been annoyed I got the question wrong if I remember it this many years later! I use a toothbrush (not the one for my teeth, as I don't like the taste of soap) and a little liquid soap to brush it every morning. I store it submerged in water when it's not in my mouth.

I can't speak to the Tap Pap, but this has worked well for my nightguard.

Do you have to worry about not using hot water, can't really use hot water on the Tap Pap or you would be reforming all the time..

Soap is hard to rinse off with cold water so I'll try warm water.

Bryansong

Careful ... even warm water could be problematic. I don't intend to use soap OR toothpaste myself. As my dentist suggested I MIGHT use a little mouthwash. Or I might just stick with rinsing.

Two other good ideas worth re-mentioning (they're earlier in this thread):
- a little Hydrogen Peroxide -- Google it. It's often used to clean dentures too
- Denture cleanser (or home made: A teaspoon of baking soda in a glass, Tap Pap goes in (just mouth piece), then slowly fill with vinegar to cover ... the vinegar and baking soda will neutralize each other creating bubbles that get in to any crevices.

Personally I'm not expecting it to be a big problem, though.

Hey guys, when I say toothpaste...I am way lazy...brush teeth..get done and use some of the foamy toothpaste left on the toothbrush on mouth guard...quick few swipes and I am done. Just enough moisture and foam in case something is there that needs removing.
Maybe 5 or 10 seconds...start to finish including rinsing mouth guard and toothbrush with nice clear water.
Remember I am a lazy sot when it comes to cleaning anything.

Vinegar and baking soda...hmm...how about plain baking soda? I so hate the aroma of vinegar.
Don't have any H2O2 but I have a bit of baking soda from the rare times I actually bake something. Maybe I will play with that.

I think as usual we are probably over thinking this cleaning thing. Making more of it than really needs to be made.
But as usual...whatever floats your boat is likely going to be just fine no matter what you do.

Pugsy wrote: I think as usual we are probably over thinking this cleaning thing. Making more of it than really needs to be made.
But as usual...whatever floats your boat is likely going to be just fine no matter what you do.

+1. If you folks haven't notice the odor thing by now, then it seems clear that this is a long term issue, if any. I would think a once a week cleaning would suffice. I like the idea of using the mouth wash since it is designed to kill the critters that hang out in our mouths. But as Pugsy has reminded us many times, everyone's perspective is unique in this regard. Do what makes you happy!

I find it easy to wash soap off with cold water. I put the soap on the wet toothbrush.

Maybe a good way to use up that mouthwash you bought and then noticed it contains alcohol.
Diluted a bit, it shouldn't hurt anything but the germies, and I don't have to deal with the mouthwash
drying out my mouth--because that's what alcohol does. (yeah, great design, P&G)

khauser wrote:
He's talking about a several hundred dollar appliance that most people hope will last many years, whereas theoretically we could just get a new mask if this one fails for whatever reason (including stinking) ... but it does have me thinking. After all, it took me five tries to get it to fit well, and the Tap Pap *is* produced by other than Respironics and ResMed, so there's little to no guarantee how much staying power this one has. (Warning, if I hear they are going out of business I *WILL* try to buy a fair number of whatever I can find!)

Thoughts?

The Tap Man who has posted on the Tap Pap review thread, wrote about a certain amount of NZ input into the making of this mask. I also have noticed that the hose on the Tap Pap is identical to the one on my F&P Opus 360, so although I couldn't say for sure that F&P is involved, it does make me wonder if they are. In which case, if F&P is involved, I doubt that the Tap Pap will disappear anytime soon. So no need to break the bank and buy up all remaining stocks - after all the Chinese (Haier) have just bought out F&P.