Snoring mouth guard is a device that helps you to stop snoring. Its basically a durable piece of device that are inserted into your mouth when you’re sleeping. There’s multiple usage for a snoring mouth guard including snoring problems, bruxism or teeth grinding and TMJ. For this purpose, some snore guards are very reliable and durable. (to handle the powerful grinding force)
However, there’s a lot of ways to call a snoring mouth guard. Some dentist will call it a dental appliances or even mandibular advancement splints if they want to get technical and all jargon to impress you. Just be aware of all the terms so that you won’t get confused when you went to have your mouth guard ordered.
A study in the UK using 25 heavy snorer found out that a snoring mouth guard or a mandibular advancement appliances were effective in reducing the loudness or snoring in 84% of the 25 participant. However, its not sure how much loudness is reduced and how loud it was to began with. The good news is 76% were reporting that they were snoring less. (again, however, it is not clear how less is “less”) Who is snoring mouth guard geared toward? Like I said, snoring guard is geared towards a person with one of the following problems. Bruxism or teeth grinding, snoring, and TMJ problems.
However, always consult your dentist before you make a decision to buy a snoring mouth guard because you’ll need a suitable snore guards for your condition. But of course, many snoring mouth guard is simply designed for one purpose only, that is to stop you from snoring. Thus, many devices doesn’t offer relieve from those suffering from teeth grinding and TMJ problems.
If however you’re not sure if you snore or if you grind your teeth at all because you’re sleeping alone. You should get a sleep study done by a sleep specialist. However, the easiest thing to do is to just see whether you have some of the symptoms i describe below.
- Drowsy and tired in the morning?
- You’re always in mood swing?
- Like you don’t have any energy and your productivity is suffering?
- Are you diagnosed with high blood pressure, stroke and/or heart disease?
If you’re feeling two or more of the above symptoms, it is highly likely that you’re suffering from snoring problems and it is causing all those problems in your life.
There’s two ways you can get a snoring mouth guard in the market right now. I advise you to go to your dentist or a sleep specialist or an ENT specialist (ortolaryngologists) in order to custom fit one for you. It will take some time to arrive because they need to get it molded from a lab. This is also more expensive because of doctor’s visit and lab work. The cheaper alternative would be to get a DIY (Do it yourself) type of mouth guard. They’re usually available on stores such as Amazon.com and can be custom fitted using hot water and a razor blade. The cons is that you may not have enough expertise to mold it according to your mouth. What does it promises to do? Most snore guards in the market promises to help you stop snoring of course, but some snoring mouth guard promises more than that. This includes more comfort and better effectiveness by custom fitting it into your mouth and manufactured using materials like silicone.
Example of claims varies from proven for over a decade to 100% guaranteed. I’ve copied and pasted some of the advertisement claim below.
Pure Sleep – Stop Snoring
Clinically Proven for over a decade
Now available without a Dr. visit!
www.puresleep.com
Stop Snoring Mouthpiece
Anti Snoring Mouthpiece only $29.95
100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
www.stopsnoringmouthpiece.com
Snore Guard Stops Snoring
Stop Snoring Now -100% Guaranteed –
Try It Risk-Free Today!
www.ZQuiet.com
Anti-Snoring Mouthpiece
Effective Snoring relief
Easy to fit, Easy to wear
www.SnoreMate.com
AveoTSD Stops Snoring
Stops snoring in 95% of patients.
Doctor or Dentist Prescribed
www.EndSnore.com
Snore Guard
Patented and FDA approved.
Find a dentist near you!
www.snoreguard.com
Want To Stop Snoring?
Quality undisturbed sleep at last
Stop Snoring Mouthpiece That Works
SleepPro.com
Anti-Snoring Mouthpiece
Recommended by Dentists and Doctors
Reduces Snoring in 85% of Snorers
www.SnoreMeds.com
End Snoring NOW
Learn Natural cures for snoring
Offer ends 4/11: Only $29.95
www.StopyourSnore.com
Anti Sleep Apnea Device
Positional Sleeper Prevents Snoring
Clinically Proven to Stop Snoring.
www.ZzomaSleep.com
Stop Snoring Oral Device
Custom dental appliance can
control
apnea effectively. CPAP Alternative
www.snoringisntsexy.com
How Does Snoring Mouth Guard Works?
Most of the snoring mouth-guard does it job by forcing your lower jaw to protude slightly forward when you’re wearing it. This causes the back of your tongue to move forward slightly because it is connected to your lower jaw. This clears up the airway (snoring is normally caused by blocked airways when your tongue collapsed on the airways) and your problem is solved. Some snoring mouth guard also prevents your tongue from falling back into your throat because the tongue is connected to the lower jaw.
In a sense a snoring mouth guard’s purpose is to make sure everything is in place to prevent snoring. You can’t snore if nothing is blocking your airways. Unless, your throat collapses. Does it do its job? What did/didn’t like about the product? Now this is all fine and dandy of course but there are a few side effects. For example, because your lower jaw is usually protruded to be slightly in front, you will often wake up feeling sore on your jaw. Plus, you might even feel that your mouth, gum or tooth is painful if the mouth guard is not made from soft and good quality material.
Other side effects including dryness on your mouth or nose which afflicts around 86% of the patient and excessive salivation which affects 55% of the people using mouth-guards. This data is taken from a 2001 study in Switzerland.
Alternatives to snoring mouth guard
There’s a lot of ways to solve your snoring problems that doesn’t involve using a mouth guard or any devices at all that might be uncomfortable to your sleep. This includes the popular nose strips which is pretty effective. You can also sleep on your side instead of sleeping on your back so your tongue doesn’t collapse and block your airways. Some common sense measure you can take including avoiding stimulants like alcohol. Some even has reported success using athletic mouth guard like brain pad but it’s not advisable especially for chronic sufferer of snoring.
Snoring Mouth Guards Comparison
There’s a few alternatives available in the market for snoring mouth guard and in this section I’ll try to list down as many as i can that are available at the time of this writing. I’ll also write about the differences, pros and cons, the prices and maybe more if its relevant. Ok, the first product we’re going to discuss is called SnoreMeds. (which is sometimes called “boil and bite” mouth guard which I will explain why later)
SnoreMeds advertises it on Amazon as a stop snoring remedy mouth piece – anti snore mouth guard device. The price is $32.58 at the time of writing this article and it comes with super saver shipping if you buy it through Amazon. SnoreMeds is sold by DAB nutrition. Here’s the product features. It’s a custom molded snoring mouth device They claim that its comfortable to wear. For $32.58 it includes carrying case, spatula and a manual. (which is useful if you’re an avid traveler) It also has a slight opening to ensure that you can breathe through the mouth. And lastly, it is made from Hypoallergenic Thermoplastic. (Which is useful for those who are allergic to normal plastic)
According to one of the reviews left on Amazon, SnoreMeds is custom molded using a razor blade so this can be tricky to custom fit it. If you make mistake in the molding process, the mold you fit you properly so you might have tooth or gum pain in the morning when you wake up. The SnoreMeds snoring mouth guard got an average of 3 stars out of 5 stars from a total of 48 customer reviews so it’s pretty good for its low price.
But there’s also a problem with SnoreMeds mouthguard, depending on how you look at it.
There’s a feature where it lets you breathe through your mouth but this can cause the mouth guard to loosen when you open your mouth wide enough and you’ll probably snore again because of this This and the sore jaw is the main complain of the SnoreMeds customers. And of course, it doesn’t work at all for some customers. Finally, the SnoreMeds snoring mouth guard is not for everybody because its not durable enough for teeth grinding and doesn’t offer enough flexibility for people with TMJ (Temporo Mandibular Joint Dysfunction) problem.
NoiseLezz
NoiseLezz is made from a company from Australia named KVG Australia Pty Ltd. NoiseLezz is not as popular as SnoreMeds and I found it to have less feature that SnoreMeds. It claims to have 94% success rate but we all know that statistics can be manipulated to suit what the company wants to potray. As such, I don’t really believe the 94% success rate statistics. One of the main reason why I don’t believe the claim is because NoiseLezz doesn’t let you custom fit the device according to your mouth’s shape and size. It is made to wear out of the box and cannot be custom fitted. However, it has a 30 day money back guarantee to minimize their cons. You have nothing to lose if it doesn’t work for you other than wasted time and the hassle of trying to get your money back.
Sleep Pro System
Sleep Pro System is a custom fitted device and its made from a company called MEDITAS Ltd in the UK (shipped worldwide), it’s not a boil and bite device which is somewhat custom fit too but not 100% custom fitted. Because of this Sleep Pro System is a lot more expensive than the other two device that I featured above. (which is in no way means that I am endorsing the devices, no devices on this website is endorsed by me, they’re here just for illustration purpose)
Another reason why Sleep Pro System is more expensive is because its longer lasting (made by using good material) and are more effective in solving your snoring problem because it is 100% custom fitted with your mouth. However, Sleep Pro System also has a DIY snoring mouth guard too for those who’re tight on the purse. (it’s a boil and bite appliances)
Let’s talk about the Sleep Pro 1 which is a boil and bite mouth-guard. It’s made from soft plastic that you have to put into the hot water to soften it. You then cool it down a bit before you bite it and let it cool down completely on your mouth. This will harden the snoring mouth guard and you will have a custom fitted mouth guard ready to use. The difference between Sleep Pro 1 and other boil and bite devices is its large breathing hole that allows you to breathe from your mouth. This however, doesn’t really happen much unless you have a cold.
The 100% custom fitted mouth guard is called Sleep Pro 2. (I know, that’s so not creative) Sleep Pro System will send you a slab of wax for you to bite down and leave your teeth and mouth’s impression on it. You then send it back to the Sleep Pro System lab and they will in turn make a custom fitted snoring mouth guard to send it back to you. Sleep Pro 2 is more durable and you won’t slip of your mouth guard that easily when you sleep at night (a common problem with out of the box snoring mouth guard) because it fits your jaw tightly. Because you don’t need to go through a dentist to get your Sleep Pro 2 snoring mouth guard, you save a significant chunk of money.
AveoTSD
This device claims to not only stop your snoring but also prevents or treat sleep apnea problem. Sleep apnea is basically a very serious form of snoring problem, which you not only have difficulty breathing but stop breathing entirely and literally for around 30 seconds until your body shakes in the struggle to regain your breath.
Aveo TSD simply means Aveo Tongue Stabilizing Device. It is claimed on the Aveo TSD website www.aveosleep.ca that this is a simple, non-invasive and inexpensive medical appliance. (but it cost $149 CAD so this is not really the cheapest snoring mouth guard out there) Again, the claim is that it is proven in clinical trials to be effective in treating Sleep Disordered Breathing, which just means that it proven to be effective in treating snoring and sleep apnea problem. However, it is never stated how effective it is in treating them. (It’s said to be 92% efficacy with compliance, whatever that means)
It is also claimed to be recommended by doctors and dentists but it is never stated by how many doctors or the percentage of doctors that recommends it. The Aveo TSD is basically a boil and bite oral appliance because it is stated that you do not need a dentist to fit it for you and you can use it immediately. For $149 CAD, I think this is on the upper range of price for a boil and bite snoring mouth guard.
OK, let’s move on.
The Clasp Retained Mandibular Positioner or CRMP is different from other snoring mouth guard because it has Adam Clasps to help keep the mandible in an advanced and protuded way. Mandible is basically your lower jaw plus your tongue. This means the CRMP works the same way like all the other Tongue Stabilizing Device or Mandibular Advancement device except it is made to prevent the snoring guard from coming off your lower jaw.
The next device on my list would be the Elastic Mandibular Advancement Appliance. This is mainly for sufferer of not only snoring problem but also sleep apnea and TMJ. This is because the Elastic Mandibular Advancement device is made to be adjustable. It’s totally flexible as in you can adjust in freely and it’s very precise. It’s easy and quick to adjust too so its convenient. While your lower jaw is protruded to the front slightly, this device allows you to even move your jaw freely from left to right, which is pretty good.
This is not the complete list of products out there on snoring of course but listing each and every piece of snoring mouth guard can be really overwhelming for you. I suggest that you get recommendation from your dentist and use the information that is written in this article as a guide to choosing a suitable snoring mouth guard whether you have problem with snoring, sleep apnea and/or TMJ.
