I am seriously thinking of switching to an oral appliance for sleep apnea, as I am worried about new guidelines for cleaning CPAPs. Several sources are now saying to rinse out your water reservoir and replace distilled water each night. The same sources say to wash your mask, tubing, and reservoir with warm, soapy water once a week. Some say daily. That's nuts. Can you imagine? The FDA hasn't approved any of the ozone CPAP sanitizing units yet. The change in frequency of upkeep for one's CPAP due to concerns about mold, bacteria, viruses, etc. seems fairly recent. So I'm left wondering if they are now more aware of CPAP side effects, like skin and nasal irritations, being due to needing to spend half your life cleaning this darn machine!

I have atopic dermatitis and get frequent nasal infections that spread around my nose. I am cleaning my CPAP more often now and replacing mask parts, etc. I also have dry eyes and have not found a CPAP mask that doesn't make this worse. I have also started to notice chest pain (lower ribs and chest) that may be CPAP-related lung issues. But I do need to avoid stressing my heart out too much.

I want to try the oral appliance with a home sleep test, to see how well I do. You can throw your oral appliance in a pretty cheap sanitizer for retainers and such. It would be so much easier to maintain properly.

But you do need to know if an oral appliance is keeping your sleep apnea in check enough.