Obligatory nasal breathing: effects on snoring and sleep apnoea

Abstract

Objective: To test the effects on snoring and sleep disordered breathing of a dental prosthesis (Snore-No-More) which is designed to decrease snoring by preventing mouth breathing during sleep.

Design: A crossover controlled trial. Each subject was studied on two nights a week apart. There was a control (no treatment) night and an experimental (treatment) night. The order of control and experimental nights was randomised.

Setting: The Royal Adelaide Hospital Sleep Laboratory.

Participants: Fourteen male volunteers (age range, 36-59 years) were studied. All had a history of chronic snoring but denied other symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

Interventions: On experimental nights subjects wore the dental prosthesis for the whole study period. On control nights no device was worn.

Main outcome measures: Studies were conducted overnight during the subject's normal sleep period. The following measurements were made: (i) frequency and loudness of snores; (ii) frequency of disordered breathing events (apnoeas and hypopnoeas); (iii) mean and minimum arterial oxygen saturation while asleep; and (iv) sleep stages.

Results: The dental prosthesis did not change the mean frequency or mean intensity of snores. The number of sleep disordered breathing events per hour of sleep decreased by approximately one-third on experimental nights (mean +/- SEM events/h: control, 24.7 +/- 5.3; experimental, 16.1 +/- 3.3, P less than 0.05). Neither sleep architecture nor arterial oxygen saturation differed between control and experimental nights.

Conclusion: Snores using the dental prosthesis Snore-No-More to produce obligatory nasal breathing are unlikely to experience clinical benefit.