Sleep Assessment
Oral sleep appliances can help you breathe easy at night, and are custom-fitted to rest on your teeth rather like a mouthguard or clear aligners. Just as it might take some time to adjust to a new mouthguard or clear aligners, you may encounter some challenges in getting used to your new oral sleep appliance. Here are some of the more common ones, along with what you can do while you’re still get adjusted!
Uncomfortable Tightness
As noted above, your oral sleep appliance will be custom-fitted to your mouth, so it should feel pretty snug. Sometimes, though, it might feel a bit too snug. If uncomfortable tightness is keeping you up at night, resist the urge to remove your appliance. The more you wear it, the better it will start to feel. In the meantime, OTC pain medicine like ibuprofen is usually enough to alleviate the oral aches.
Excessive Drooling
Your body might think it’s doing you a favor by responding to your new appliance with increased saliva production, but it’s creating a nighttime inconvenience in the process! Eventually, your mouth will recognize your appliance as a “normal” part of your sleep routine, and will stop creating so much saliva. Until then, you might find it helpful to put a towel over your pillow so you can deal with any drool more easily.
Sensitive Gag Reflex
This one isn’t so much of an effect of a new sleep appliance so much as it is a strong and unfortunate reaction that some people have. If your gag reflex is on the sensitive side, you might have a hard time inserting your appliance. In this case, try to relax as much as possible, and move slowly. Give it a couple more attempts, but don’t force yourself to overdue it. If you’re still having trouble after a few nights, it’s time to talk to your doctor and sleep dentist.
Nightly Football
Believe it or not, some patients take their oral appliance out in their sleep and throw it clear across the room! These “nightly football sessions” can be frustrating, especially if they occur multiple times in a row. Fortunately, this is another situation where your brain will eventually get used to your appliance, so try to keep calm and carry on. You should start to find your sleep device in your mouth more often than not.
The process of adjusting to a new oral sleep appliance isn’t exactly fun, but with some diligence, it can be done. Once your appliance becomes a part of your nightly sleep routine, you’ll notice fewer discomforts and inconveniences. Before you know it, you’ll be resting fully without incident!
About the Author
Dr. Michael E. Michel is an experienced sleep dentist in Topeka. He’s been helping sleep apnea patients get a better night’s rest for decades now, and still finds his work rewarding. Getting good sleep is important for everyday life, and Dr. Michel is happy to provide his patients with effective oral sleep appliances! If you’re having trouble adjusting to your appliance, Dr. Michel would be happy to give you advice. Simply call 785-273-0801 to get in touch!