Preventing oral breathing – or else snoring or nocturnal mouth dryness may occur

A dry mouth is unhealthy and annoying. It brings with it unpleasant accompanying effects such as nocturnal mouth dryness, mouth odor or inflammation. Moreover, nocturnal sleeping with an open mouth is also a cause of snoring.Here you’ll find out why it is recommendable to “hold your tongue” at night and how you do that. You will also get an overview of effective means against snoring with an open mouth: Mouthpieces prevent you from opening the mouth during sleep. Nasal dilators ensure that you can breathe through the nose free of care.

There are two situations in which the body switches to oral respiration: When nose breathing is impaired and when the body becomes physically stressed. That is the case, for instance, when being demanded physically, such as when doing sports, being worked up or when coming under stress. Then regular nasal breathing is, to some extent, not sufficient anymore to transport enough oxygen to the lungs. You start to breathe – in most cases unconsciously – through the open mouth.

Nasal respiration

Nose breathing is the natural, physiological form of snoring. Every day, between 12,000 and 36,000 liters worth of breathing air flow through the nose (depending on body size and degree of effort). This is nearly equivalent to the filling content of an inflatable bouncy castle. Nasal breathing prevents – to a greater extent than oral respiration – dust and dirt particles or even germs and pathogens from entering the body. Furthermore, nasal respiration always brings the flow of breathing air to body temperature before it reaches the lungs. When the outside air is cold, it is brought to a higher temperature and when it’s hot outside, then the air is cooled down and moistened on its way through the nose.

In addition, nose breathing leads to a level of blood oxygen saturation that is up to 15 % higher. Nasal respiration therefore allows for greater oxygen supply to the organs. The reason for this is nitrogen monoxide, also referred to as nitric oxide or nitrogen oxide, which is formed in the paranasal sinuses and which is automatically brought to the lungs as you breathe through the nose. Nitric oxide has a range of important tasks; it widens the blood vessels and facilitates the perfusion of pulmonary alveoli, among other things. As a consequence, more oxygen can be absorbed into the blood and transported to the organs. Body regeneration improves. Your sleep will also be of higher quality.

Mouth breathing and its consequences

On the other hand, breathing through the mouth on a permanent basis leads to unpleasant accompanying effects. Most people don’t know that oral respiration brings about consequences – negative consequences that is! Alone mouth dryness, in medical jargon called “xerostomia”, which is caused by incessantly having the mouth open, is quite disturbing. It doesn’t stop with “just” the inconvenient consequences. What is more, oral breathing can cause tangible health issues. When you breathe through the mouth, the thin salivary film that covers the teeth dries out. Yet, this salivary film fulfills an important protective function for the tooth surface. It flushes away bacteria and prevents the spreading of new bacteria on the teeth, which would otherwise lay the foundation for caries. Nocturnal xerostomia and tooth decay in turn, promote the development of inflamed oral mucosal abnormalities, which can be extremely painful.
When the saliva dries out, it also alters the composition of bacteria in the oral cavity, the so-called oral flora. Putrefactive bacteria gain control over your mouth. This is accompanied by unpleasant smells. Regardless of whether you come to grips with the problem of oral breathing, you should in any case do something about a dry mouth – For example, by using adhesive tablets intended for addressing xerostomia.

So what can you do by yourself to prevent oral breathing?

Nose breathing is not the problem (anymore) and you still continue to snore through the mouth? If that is the case, we recommend the use of an anti-snore mouthpiece. This mouthpiece, also called a vestibular plate, in its form resembles a boxer’s gumshield and is fixed to the upper jaw at night. It makes sure that you keep your mouth closed during sleep, consequentially shutting off oral respiration and eliminating mouth snoring effectively as a result of this. A prerequisite for use is, however, that nasal respiration functions properly, otherwise nocturnal air supply may be severely restricted here and there. To forestall problems with nasal breathing, you can also combine the mouthpiece with the use of a nasal dilator for example.

As already mentioned, the mouthpiece is attached to the upper jaw – similar to dental braces. It is not firmly anchored to the teeth. Two air passages specially integrated in the somnipax mouthpiece ensure that the pressure of breathing air in the oral cavity does not become so strong that the mouthpiece is spit out „like a chermadic with tremendous force“. To be exact, the excess pressure escapes through the openings in a controlled manner, without oral respiration immediately setting in again.

Should the mouthpiece slip out of place during sleep – or if you feel that you don’t get enough air – you can simply remove the device from your mouth. The mouthpiece has a very gracile design, which means that it is barely constrictive and caters for a nice wearing comfort. At the same time, it is too big to be accidently swallowed while you sleep.