Why would a snoring mouthpiece work? Prior to explaining how or why a snoring mouthpiece works to eliminate snoring, let us describe the underpinnings of snoring itself.
Snoring is nothing more than a vibration of the soft tissues that make up the upper, rear one-third of the roof of the mouth.
These soft tissues are the soft palate and uvula.
When we fall asleep at night, the soft palate and uvula relax and drop down into the airway (path between the air we breathe and the lungs, passing through either the nose or mouth).
Think of a nozzle on a water hose.
When the nozzle is configured in such a way that the opening is narrowed, water comes out under significantly greater pressure than when the aperture is opened all the way.
In like fashion, if the size of our airway is reduced by having tissues collapse into the airway while we sleep, then the air we breathe is under significant pressure and sets these tissues into motion or vibration.
Solution? Open up the airway.
The Mechanical Action of a Snoring Mouthpiece.
A snoring mouthpiece is custom fit over the upper and lower teeth in such a way that the snoring mouthpiece forces the lower jaw, called the mandible, to move forward.
The net effect of the snoring mouthpiece is to open up the cross-sectional area of the airway.
In so doing it reduces the air pressure in the breath stream thus the energy to set the soft tissues of the throat into vibration is dramatically reduced.
Stated simply, placing a fitted oral appliance called a snoring mouthpiece into the mouth during sleep can be a very effective deterrent to snoring and can bring good quality sleep back into the bedroom.
The snoring mouthpiece is something I recommend for the patient whose sleep is disturbed by the noise accompanying snoring.