A RECENT trend of night-time mouth taping, spreading largely via social media, could be dangerous according to a review of 10 studies.
Taping the mouth shut while sleeping is being promoted as a way to encourage nose breathing with various claimed benefits including improved sleep apnoea, sleep quality, dry mouth, bad breath and concentration.
However, the systematic review, which covered 213 patients, found little evidence to support the claims and noted there is a risk of asphyxiation.
Two of the studies reported a decrease in apnoea-hypopnoea index, a metric of sleep apnoea severity, but the review authors questioned the clinical significance of the findings, especially among people whose sleep apnoea is more than 'mild'.
Several studies mentioned that oral occlusion, either through taping, sealing or chin strapping, could pose a serious risk of asphyxiation in the presence of nasal obstruction or regurgitation.
"Therefore, the social media phenomena of mouth taping as a means to stop mouth breathing would seem to be guided by poor evidence and can even lead to risk of detrimental effects in individuals with serious nasal obstruction as a cause of oral breathing," wrote the authors.
"Further studies are required to elucidate any clinical benefit this practice may have."
Read the review HERE.
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