Braces suck to begin with. I think we can all agree that having braces is not fun. Mind you, the privilege of having the option and the means to pay for correcting my teeth is not lost on me. I am grateful for that privilege. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it sucks to live with braces.
Among the many annoying issues one encounters while wearing braces, I have one more unique item that I have discovered. That is wearing a cpap to sleep when you have braces.
There are many types of cpap masks, but mine happens to be a full face mask as you can see in the image above. This means that there is some pressure on my face during the whole night when wearing it, including my mouth.
So what’s the problem? Well, your cheeks are being pressed up against sharp metal braces and that’s just not fun.
On that first night once I realized that this was going to be an issue I became really frustrated. I was already pretty annoyed about having to wear braces at 44 years old to begin with. I mean I’m paying for Invisalign so what the hell am I doing wearing braces? But adding this extra cpap element to mix, now that was annoying.
In any case, the solution was to put on some wax at the end corners of my braces. This alleviated the main pressure points and allowed me to sleep more comfortably. Thankfully I don’t need to put wax on all of the braces to sleep, this way seems to work just fine and I haven’t torn my mouth up since doing it.
One night I did forget to put the wax on and I fell asleep. When I woke up my cheeks were a bit cut up. So yeah, I pretty much forget to put the wax on every night, but after that one night that I forgot, I make sure to get right back up and put it on. It’s very annoying but it works and protects the inside of your cheeks. Also, if you accidentally swallow it that’s okay too! Apparently it’s low calorie and goes right through you.
In any case, that’s how I sleep with a cpap while wearing braces.
Just a life long New Yorker sharing the journey through my lens. Please take note of a post’s date. The views I express here are subject to change and evolving as I grow and learn.
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