Benefits Of Mouth Taping

We’ll tell you the benefits then you can shut your mouth…with tape!

Who knew that simply taping up your mouth can give you better sleep and overall health? Relax. We’re not saying you’re talking nonsense or are talkative while you sleep. Taping your mouth is a valid way of improving the quality of your sleep. Interested?

We all need sleep. We love sleep. We don’t need to go through all the details about having quality sleep. What we would like to know is how to get quality sleep. This being said, some of us sleep with our mouths open (mouth-breather). And this is where the problem lies.

Mouth taping is basically strapping a piece of tape over your mouth to encourage you to breathe through your nose while sleeping. It seems a bit weird. It does sound weird, and even the phrase mouth taping might sound dangerous.

It’s not. You put tape over your mouth because you are a mouth-breather (as opposed to the usual route of nose breathing, ahem). We don’t see any other reasons why you should tape over your mouth. Talking while you sleep isn’t one of them. Here are some clues that suggest you might be a mouth-breather:

There are pools of drool on your pillow in the morning.
You hate lollies and brush your teeth, but still have a lot of cavities.
You grind your teeth so hard while you sleep you wake up the neighbour’s dog.
Snoring, a lot of loud snoring.
Waking up several times in the middle of the night to visit the bathroom.
Really unpleasant breath smell in the morning.

Before you start taping your mouth, we suggest consulting your primary healthcare provider first. Some medical conditions can make you breathe through your mouth. Most of them are treatable. It would be best to rule out these medical conditions first before taping your mouth. Your primary healthcare provider will point you in the right direction or specialist (dentist, orthodontist or ENT specialist) to fix these medical conditions.

The Origin of Mouth Taping

Mouth taping originated from one of the ways the Buteyko breathing technique is being practiced. The technique came from Russia but has been adapted by its advocates in Western countries.

It includes a variety of interventions to improve breathing.

To encourage and maintain nose breathing at night, some Buteyko practitioners recommend the use of tape over the mouth. Mouth taping is not exclusive to Buteyko breathing technique. It’s also used by yoga practitioners and by using a physiotherapy technique called the Papworth method to deal with hyperventilation.

Why should you put a tape on your mouth? What are its benefits?

Improve the quality of your sleep. Sleep keeps your entire body healthy. It’s the time for your body to rest and recuperate. When you improve the quality of your sleep, you feel more energised and ready to face the challenges of the day.
More oxygen gets into your lungs and your body. Experts estimate that you increase the oxygen content in your lungs by as much as 10-20% if you breathe through your nose while keeping your mouth closed during sleep. As a result of this, you can focus more and feel less fatigue during the day.
Mouth taping contributes to the prevention of high blood pressure and heart problems. Taping your mouth and breathing through your nose leads to the production of nitric oxide. It’s a molecule that’s produced by almost every type of cell in your body. It’s mainly responsible for promoting increased blood flow by opening (vasodilating) up your arteries. More blood flow means more nutrients are delivered to your tissues and organs, leading to better overall health.
If you have a lung condition like asthma or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), breathing through your mouth can worsen and even trigger your symptoms. Keeping it taped up will force you to breathe through your nose while you sleep and may avoid triggering your chronic lung problem.
Mouth taping decreases your chances of developing halitosis (bad breath), dental caries, and gingivitis (gum disease). Mouth breathing dries up your oral cavity leading to the growth of harmful bacteria. Your saliva contains antibacterial proteins which keep the ecosystem in your mouth in balanced mode. When your mouth dries up, this ecosystem is disrupted.
Evade frequent throat infections. Remember, breathing through your mouth dries up your throat and makes you more prone to tonsillopharyngitis (throat infection).
Mouth taping also lessens your odds of developing the following medical conditions:
- Sleep apnoea
- Jaw disorders
- Crooked and crowded teeth
- Malocclusion or misalignment between upper and lower teeth
- Enlargement of your tonsils and adenoids

The Science behind Mouth Taping

Physiologically speaking, whenever we sleep with our mouths open, our tongues relax and rest on the back of our throats blocking our airway. This causes obstruction and turbulence in the air (oxygen) we breathe in. When our mouths are closed while we sleep, our tongues don’t relax, and the air is allowed to flow unobstructed and free from turbulence from our noses to our lungs. The decrease in oxygen, dryness in the oral cavity, and decrease in the amount of quality sleep all work in harmony to bring the negative effects of mouth-breathing. Mouth taping helps in the fight against these three.

Don’t use duct tape or just any kind of tape. You can use 3MTM MicroporeTM surgical tape.

Apply a little bit of lip balm on your lips, so they don’t dry out. There are also some branded strips sold online, which you can try out if you want a more specialised experience.

Mouth taping is a safe and effective method of encouraging nose breathing for better overall health. The benefits enumerated above should be enough reasons for you to breathe through your nose and keep that mouth taped up while you sleep. Your nose was meant to guard your lungs, and your mouth was destined to guard your stomach. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain including quality sleep so shut your mouth…with tape.