Does “mouth taping” improve sleep?

TLDR: there is some (non-conclusive) evidence mouth taping improves sleep. But if you have trouble breathing through your nose (e.g. have some nasal-blockage condition, or a cold), then give mouth taping a skip.

I’ve been seeing these companies selling mouth tape on instagram — to prevent mouth-breathing when sleeping (which is suppose to help). I have tried them, but I can’t really say for sure if they help me.

Found this aptly titled 2025 review “Breaking social media fads and uncovering the safety and efficacy of mouth taping in patients with mouth breathing, sleep disordered breathing, or obstructive sleep apnea: A systemic review” .

What the review looked at?

• The paper reviewed 10 other studies – that tested either mouth tape, mouth-sealing patches, or chinstraps.

• Those study participants were mostly sleep-clinic patients. (So unclear whether the findings apply more generally)

• It wasn’t a meta-analysis, as the 10 studies weren’t similar enough. The review authors also rated the 10 studies’ methodology poorly (in terms of ability to draw generalised findings). 

• (So all-in-all, take the results (below) with a pinch of salt!)

What the review found? (My interpretation of the findings: check out the credo summary yourself!)

• Some (weak) evidence that mouth taping reduces sleep apnoea. 

• Some evidence mouth taping reduces snoring and “oxygen desaturation” (when blood oxygen go below a certain level)

• Mouth tape likelier to be effective if used with a jaw device.

• Some of the studies excluded people with “nasal obstruction” (which makes sense). So we can’t say mouth taping helps these people (which isn’t surprising).