Bedtime Mouth Taping

Shut your mouth and go to bed!

No really… Shut your mouth and go to bed. :) There’s a new health craze and it consists of taping your mouth shut before bed. I know sounds weird, but the health benefits are far too many to ignore. The pay off? It will change your life!

If you’re a mouth breather like me, this info might be of high interest to you. A quick google search lead me to the Ask a Denist site: “How to Mouth Tape For Better Sleep,” article. The author Dr. Burhenne a family and sleep medicine dentist, states that “if you’re breathing through your mouth while you sleep at night, it’s a big deal.” Not only does mouth breathing reduce the quality of your sleep, it also “impacts blood pressure and heart rate, worsens asthma, and deprives the heart, brain, and other organs of optimal oxygenation.” An interesting fact to point out, is that mouth breathers have a higher level of gum disease and teeth cavities when compared to nasal breathers! This can be due to mouth breathing disrupting the balance of your oral microbiome, which makes you more prone to tooth decay. Your mouth should be naturally moist while you sleep at night and when waking up in the morning, nasal breathing ensures this. Now the question arises, are you a midnight mouth breather? Well there are a couple of signs that might answer this question for you. For starters waking up with a dry mouth is one, and the not so fan favourite smelly morning breath.

What are the benefits of nose breathing throughout the night? Well for one, better sleep, less chance of teeth grinding, less cavities and less bad breath. But the most important benefit is increased Nitric Oxide, which is proven to have a load of health benefits. Nitric Oxide is produced in the sinuses, the body produces 25 percent of its nitric oxide from nose breathing. Adults and children who mouth breathe deprive their bodies by cutting the amount that their body can access. Here are just some of the benefits of nitric oxide:

• Enhances memory and learning 
• Increases endurance and strength 
• Promotes weight loss 
• Improves immune/gut function 
• Helps improve symptoms of anxiety and depression 

                                                                                               

So, your ready to give Mouth Tape for Better Sleep a try? Here are a few tips that may help you along your journey:  

• Wear the tape for 1/2 hour before bed or when you wake up (after brushing your teeth of course) just to get used to it
• Don’t just slap on any type of tape. You can purchase specially made sleeping strips called Somnifix online, but surgical tape can work just as well 
• The tape may unseal during the night which is ok, just simply pat it back into place.
• Do not try if you’ve been drinking heavily, are taking sleeping pills or feel ill
• Lastly if you need a bit of encouragement, tape with a partner make funny faces, and just have fun with it!

“The mouth is for eating and the nose is for breathing,” but somewhere along the way we’ve forgotten this important bit of information. If you’re anything like me, I constantly find myself breathing through my mouth, which can be the cause of suffering from year-round allergies/sinuses. Needless to say, this article struck a cord with me-so much so that I’ve made it a point to shut my mouth and breath through my nose more often. So ill go ahead now and shut my mouth ;)    

 

For more info or a good read visit: https://askthedentist.com/mouth-tape-better-sleep/