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Does mouth taping improve sleep?
Ten small studies (213 people) show mixed results, and tape can be risky if your nose is blocked.
What you hear: “Taping your mouth closed at night makes you breathe through your nose, so you sleep better and snore less.”
What the studies found
A 2025 review found only 10 studies with 213 people in total. Two showed better sleep apnoea scores with mouth tape; the others found no difference. A 2026 review could pool no data on taping, but noted two small studies where it lowered breathing pauses in mild sleep apnoea. Many studies excluded people with a blocked nose.
Take care: Researchers warn that taping the mouth could risk suffocation if your nose is blocked, and it is no substitute for sleep apnoea treatment.
What you could do
If you snore loudly or wake tired, get checked for sleep apnoea and any nasal blockage rather than taping your mouth.
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Not medical advice. General information from published studies, not a diagnosis or a treatment plan. Talk with your doctor before starting a supplement or changing a medicine, especially if you are pregnant, take other medicines or have a health condition.
How we judged it
Not proven: Not enough good human evidence yet, either way. We judge the claim as it is usually said online, not the habit itself. Trials assign people at random, so they can show cause; observed studies follow people and show a link, not proof. Last checked: October 2026.
The studies, in their own words
- Rhee et al. PLoS One 2025
Two studies showed statistically significant improvement in established markers of sleep apnea such as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) or oxygen desaturations. Other studies showed that mouth taping offered no differences and even discussed potential risks including asphyxiation in the presence of nasal obstruction.
- Alshehri et al. OTO Open 2026
Due to limited data, no meta-analysis was performed for mouth taping; only 2 studies were narratively reviewed.
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