Mouth leak and taping question

[Moemah123]

Hi all,

I have couple of questions. Yesterday, I decided to not mouth tape and see if I feel any different. I would say I felt that my night in terms of sleep felt above average to great. My question is, would Oscar reliably show if I am having mouth leaks? Take a look at my Oscar, I see minimal leaks and potentially some mouth leaks but compared to previous charts it looks the same if not better in terms of leaks. So my question is, could Oscar miss if I have mouth leaks? And if it is not showing great leaks like this chart, is it a sign I don't need mouth taping? Is there a drawback to having mouth tape or going without it. 

Appreciate your thoughts around the matter !

[Crimson Nape]

Look at your Flow Rate graph. The pattern should be evenly distributed above and below the zero line. Mouth breathing will usually present with the lower portion of the graph being truncated. Look at 01:10. It needs expanding but seems to have that signature.

[Moemah123]

I zoomed in and attached. I am not seeing what you described but also not sure what you meant lower is truncated. Do you see it in this graph?

[Crimson Nape]

Truncated means that it isn't of the same magnitude as above the zero line. If you exhale through your mouth, the graph will not record what you breathed in. If you inhale at a rate of 40 L/min, then you should exhale at 40 L/min if you aren't mouth breathing.

[Moemah123]

Makes sense, so based on 2 graphs doesn't look like I had mouth leaks correct? Should I continue to go without tape ? Or tape is still beneficial in general

[Crimson Nape]

Whenever I switched to only a nasal pillow mask from either an FFM or mouth taping, I could go several days before I would start mouth breathing. Your mileage may vary on this.