Chin strap alternative ideas.

Many of us have to live with chin straps, but aren't happy with them.

It sure would be nice if there were good alternatives.

Some have suggested cervical collars or pillows. I guess I should experiment with that.

I was thinking about dental braces the other day. I know they put rubber bands between the top and bottom braces at some times. It occurred to me that you could probably use that as a replacement for a chin strap. If you could hold the teeth together, it would help keep your mouth closed.

Since I don't have braces, and I'm probably not going to ask my dentist to put them in just for this, that won't work for me, but I wonder if there might not be some way to do something similar.

I wonder if there might be some other way to grab on to your teeth and hold them together during cpap. Obviously, it would have to be something where you could still force your teeth apart. It would also have to be something that didn't do harm to your teeth.

Maybe someone could make some sort of temporary hook thing like the brackets on braces that could be put on and removed nightly. Then hook the top and bottom teeth together with rubber bands or magnets.

Maybe someone could design something like the boil and bite mouthguards that grabs the teeth somehow.

Something sticky you bite into? I'd be afraid I'd pull out a filling, crown or whole tooth.

Some sort of dental floss "lasso" that grabs your upper and lower teeth? With some sort of release mechanism.

Any other ideas?

Your idea would not hold the lips together. That's where air can escape ...even with your teeth together.

LSAT wrote:Your idea would not hold the lips together. That's where air can escape ...even with your teeth together.

Which brings us back to taping ones lips... hey, somebody had to say it.

Try wearing your CPAP while watching TV to get your mind used to the idea of breathing through your nose.

I may be out of line here, but I am reminded of a joke. What do you get when you cut 100 bras in half? Ans: 200 beanies with chin straps.

I currently find a terry elastic sweat band fits my head and I add 2 small squares of double sided velcro to my mask frame comfy and effective. I also tape my mouth and have been doing so for 5 years

What's the purpose of the chinstrap that you're talking about?

1) to get used to use nose breathing instead of mouth only breathing
2) to cut down on mouth leak
3) to avoid DryMouth
4) to let mouth open only a bit and not wide. I use this approach with my nasal traditional mask. I need to restrict my mouth not to open too much which would screw up the S9 capability of diagnosing events (the mouth air leak to stay below 24L/Min). On the other hand I need air going thru my mouth to agitate the face muscle to create more saliva and secrete it to the mouth. Just holding the mouth closed by using taped- lips for example, causes it to become a Dry Mouth which is bad. If the room air is kept at 60% relative humidity and at 82F then I don't get a drymouth. Machine's humidifier does not affect my drymouth b/c most the air from the machine is not inhaled. Only part of it. The rest passes out. Also, the humidified air from the machine is not much different from my room air. At a humidifier setting of #5 the air coming out from the machine is 75% relative humidity and 82 degrees F. So I am OK to let some room air go into my mouth via the loose chinstrap and thus stop a potential Dry Mouth.

That's how I used my dentist-made M.A.D. during CPAP for years.

LSAT wrote:Your idea would not hold the lips together. That's where air can escape ...even with your teeth together.

A chin strap doesn't hold your lips together, either, it just keeps your jaw closed. It's a lot harder to keep your lips together if your jaw is open.

Also, you really don't want to seal your mouth shut with your lips during CPAP. You want the seal to be be between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. If air is getting past that, you'll tend to get chipmunk cheeks.

avi123 wrote:What's the purpose of the chinstrap that you're talking about?

To keep the mouth closed and prevent losing CPAP pressure when we sleep. With out a chin strap, my mouth opens and I lose my pressure and dry my mouth out.

I have tried tbe resmed blue and the black chin straps. Both work but after a few hours I have to take it off due to discomfort. Only so much elastic I can stand. My current pressure is 23 cm H2O. At that pressure it is hard to keep from my tendency toward mouth breathing is hard to control. I saw a device like a welders cap with chin strap on it. Anyone tried one of these?