Does the O2Vent Optima device promote mouth breathing?

No. Patients will breathe through their nose to the extent they can, and when they can’t, they mouth breathe. This is because as nasal resistance increases during the night, patients have an adaptive response to switch over to mouth breathing. Once mouth breathing occurs, there is an actual increase in upper airway collapse.

With the O2Vent Optima device in place the patient will instead of opening their mouth, automatically begin to breathe through the “mouthpiece/duckbill” which will result in a stable airway and normal ventilation.