#78

@philip.leriche: Let me tell you about my one and only experience with occlusion. As I have posted elsewhere, I started to wear hard acrylic moulds 16 years ago. They gave me very good performance, and very good acoustic coupling up until recently. As I get older, I find that I am losing body fat, and my ear canals have changed shape.

I was no longer getting the tight acoustic seal from these molds of mine that I was getting previously. I discussed this with my audiologist, and he took an impression and sent away for a new pair of molds. What I received back was what Oticon calls Mini Fit Power Molds, I believe . They have my usual 100 dB speakers in them, but they are made of clear acrylic an are of a different shape than my old molds. The new ones project farther into my ear canal than the old moulds used to. The improvement in my hearing has been amazing.

I have a much louder acoustic signal delivered to my ear with these new PowerFit molds, and sounds are much crisper and more distinct. I can make out the consonants and soft sounds a lot better with these molds, than I did previously.

But back to occlusion. When I first took delivery of these molds, my experience was just like yours.

At first I found that chewing was tremendously loud, and I could hardly stand the loudness of my own voice when I talked. But within two or three days everything settled down, and I became used to it. I didn’t have to have any adjustments done: I just let my brain do the adjusting. I am very happy right now with the performance that I’m getting from my More1 hearing aids and these new power molds. They are excellent. I could not ask for a better.

I may, however, be getting a pair of Real hearing aids if the DVA accepts my request for early replacement of my hearing aids, because I have no spares at the moment. I will post on this if it develops into something concrete.

As for occlusion, to answer your question directly, yes, I think that your experience with chewing is normal, but I think that if you are patient and just keep wearing the new molds for a few days, you’ll find that your brain takes care of it, all on its own.

As usual, this is only my opinion, and your mileage may vary.

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#79

HMm; I had not heard about this before and I have had 4 or 5 custom molds in the past. All of them would work themselves out of my ears when I chew/eat, so I always reverted back to open domes. Maybe I will give custom molds another try?

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#80

I guess im fortune in one aspect, that in my bad ear i have so much loss that it always feels occluded. So using a mold with zero vent is a non-issue for me.

#81

Ask for better hearing aids first.

Yours are quite old. You should get the NHS Oticon Engage which are MFi HAs.

#82

I have, when I had molds and never had back out issues.

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#83

Absolutely!
The change from open domes to earmolds totally changes the acoustics.
Even a difference in venting creates a need for adjustment.

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#84

These are mine, they are custom, and sealed:

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#85

You can get both molds where the receiver is encased and molds where it is removable. A 100 dB receiver will pretty much always be encased. Building the receiver into the mold allows them to deconstruct the receiver block which is more forgiving for space and fit, and so an encased mold will often offer a slightly sleeker fit in the ear, although Oticon in particular makes nice custom tips. Some ears require encased molds because of shape/size. Tips with removeable receivers have the obvious benefit of being able to swap the receiver at the clinic rather than sending for repair. Hollow tips are also less occluding for people with good lows who want a pretty open fit but more feedback control than an open dome can offer.

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#86

One more question; Keep your mouth open how wide?

  • Wide enough to say “Ha”?
  • Wide enough to eat an apple?
#87

Standard bite block is maybe an inch or a bit more? Finger mobility may vary, but if I curl my finger and place it prependicularly between my teeth that seems about right. If that makes sense.

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#88

Thanks @Neville for clarification.
Musta had my finger in my mouth when I posted!

#89

Interesting about mouth position.

I found biting down and opening my mouth repeatedly during the mold set worked for me.

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#90

“keep your mouth open when taking an impression”…I’ve heard this. But I wonder if this is a universally applicable rule? It seems to work for some. but anatomy is finicky.

I got a very good second impression on the second try with my right mold. My mouth was closed. Nevertheless, my audi smoothed and slightly shaped that same mold in his office, and now the fit is darn near perfect. This last may bring better results than taking yet another impression and sending them off for another try at the manufacturers home base.

I wonder if luck, circumstance and who knows what else might play a role in this beyond a lot of other factors…?

#91

No. You’re right that anatomy is finicky. Different clinicians take different approaches regarding whether they start out with closed or open mouth or moving jaw. If there was one perfect way that worked for everyone, at this point it would be the standard.

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#92

I wonder how much more accurate Laser guided 3D impressions are?

#93

I mean, it’s still going to be different if your mouth is open or closed.

#94

oops joke deleted from this space

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#95

I take the hint, prodigyplace…

#96

This is the first I have heard of ball type. @darthvagrant Could you possibly post a photograph so I could learn what that means?

#97

Thanks @flashb1024 Thanks @Neville
I am now, the proud owner of Oticon miniFit strength=85 MicroShell-Long Molds replacing my open domes.

In addition to your advice to keep my mouth open while the material in my ear is hardening/curing my Audi also advised that I (open & close/chew) while the material in my ear is hardening/curing.

The molds stay put. Don’t back out. Are comfortable, and I hear much better.

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I’m a Happy Camper!

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ETA → Oh, btw> Try multiple clicks on the high-resolution image above to see more detail. I especially like how the vent opening is set back away from the inner tip of the receiver.

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