Beyond the Hype—What the Science Really Says

In this episode we discuss:

• Why nasal breathing is the body’s preferred breathing pathway
• How mouth breathing affects sleep quality, oral health, and airway resistance
• The latest systematic review on mouth taping and what it found
• Potential risks of mouth taping, including worsened sleep apnea and suffocation risk with nasal obstruction
• The phenomenon of “mouth puffing” and how it may worsen sleep apnea
• Why airway anatomy determines whether mouth taping helps or harms
• Why mouth taping may work better when combined with other interventions
• The importance of diagnosing sleep disorders before trying sleep hacks
• Safer ways to approach mouth taping if you decide to try it

Show notes:

• “Nocturnal mouth-taping and social media: A scoping review of the evidence” by Fangmeyer, S. K., Badger, C. D., & Thakkar, P. G.
• “Effect of nasal or oral breathing route on upper airway resistance during sleep” by Fitzpatrick, M. F., et al.
• “Mouth puffing phenomenon and upper airway features may be used to predict the severity of obstructive sleep apnea” by Jau, J.-Y., et al.
• “Mouth closing to improve the efficacy of mandibular advancement devices in sleep apnea” by Labarca, G., et al.
• “The impact of mouth-taping in mouth-breathers with mild obstructive sleep apnea: A preliminary study” by Lee, Y.-C., et al.
• “Breaking social media fads and uncovering the safety and efficacy of mouth taping in patients with mouth breathing, sleep disordered breathing, or obstructive sleep apnea: A systematic review” by Rhee, J., et al.
• “Mouth closure and airflow in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: A nonrandomized clinical trial” by Yang, H., et al.
• Learn more about the Adapt Naturals Core Plus bundle, or take our quiz to see which products best suit your needs
• If you’d like to ask a question for Chris to answer in a future episode, submit it here
• Follow Chris on Instagram or Facebook

Hey everybody, Chris Kresser here. Welcome to another episode of Revolution Health Radio. Today we’re going to talk about something that’s been all over social media lately– mouth taping. If you spent any time on TikTok or Instagram in the past couple of years, you’ve probably seen influencers raving about how taping their mouth shut at night has transformed their sleep, cured their snoring, improved their jaw structure, and maybe even made them look younger. Some of these videos have hundreds of millions of views, and the claims are pretty dramatic.

Now I have a somewhat unique perspective on this because I use mouth tape myself. But before you think I’m here to tell you that mouth taping is the answer to all your sleep problems, I want to share what the science says. A major systematic review published in May 2025 examined all available research on mouth taping, and the findings are much more nuanced than what you’re seeing on social media. The truth is, for some people in specific circumstances, mouth taping can be helpful. For others, it could make things worse or even be dangerous. This matters because we’re seeing a pattern where social media trends get way ahead of the science, and people end up trying interventions that might not be right for them without understanding the context or risks. I’ve talked about this before with other health trends, and mouth taping is a perfect example.  There’s a kernel of truth here. Nasal breathing during sleep is generally better than mouth breathing, and there are some situations where mouth taping can support that. But as is often the case, the devil is in the details, and those details matter a lot when it comes to your safety and whether this intervention will actually help you.

By the end of this episode, you’ll understand when mouth taping might be beneficial, when it could be harmful, why individual variation matters so much, and what you should consider before trying it yourself. Let’s dive in.

Let’s start with the basic science, because understanding why nasal breathing matters helps explain why people are interested in mouth taping in the first place. Your nose isn’t just a backup airway for when your mouth is busy. It’s designed to be your primary breathing route, especially during sleep. When you breathe through your nose, several important things happen. The nasal passages filter the air, removing dust, allergens, and pathogens. They warm and humidify the air before it reaches your lungs. And crucially, nasal breathing produces nitric oxide, which helps dilate blood vessels and improve oxygen delivery throughout your body. Decades of research have shown that nasal breathing during sleep is associated with lower upper airway resistance than mouth breathing. A study published in the European Respiratory Journal in 2003 directly measured this in healthy people during sleep. They found that upper airway resistance was significantly lower during nasal breathing than during oral breathing. Not only that, but when people breathed through their mouths during sleep, they had a marked increase in obstructive events. So the basic physiology checks out. Nasal breathing is preferable to mouth breathing during sleep.

When you breathe through your mouth at night, especially chronically, it can lead to a cascade of problems. Your mouth and throat dry out, which is uncomfortable and creates an environment where bacteria thrive. This contributes to bad breath, and over time, it can increase your risk of cavities and gum disease. Mouth breathing can also make snoring worse because the soft tissues in your throat relax more when your mouth is open, which partially blocks your airway. In more serious cases, this can contribute to or worsen obstructive sleep apnea, where your breathing repeatedly stops and starts throughout the night.

So given all of this, you can see why the idea of using tape to keep your mouth closed at night seems logical. If nasal breathing is better, and mouth taping ensures you breathe through your nose, then mouth taping should improve your sleep, right? Well, that’s where things get more complicated. The systematic review I mentioned earlier, published in PLOS One in May 2025, examined all scientific literature on mouth taping from 1999 to 2024. The researchers used rigorous PRISMA guidelines, which are the gold standard for systematic reviews. They screened 120 articles and selected 10 studies that met their inclusion criteria. These 10 studies included a total of 213 patients, and used various methods to keep the mouth closed, including adhesive tape, mouth seals, and chin straps. Here’s what they found. The evidence for health benefits for mouth taping is weak and inconsistent. More importantly, they identified some serious safety concerns. First, all 10 studies were rated as low quality, which means we need to be cautious about drawing strong conclusions. The sample sizes were small, the study designs varied widely, and there were many limitations in how the research was conducted. Second, and this is critical, the review found that mouth taping can actually worsen sleep-disordered breathing by restricting airflow. There’s even a risk of suffocation if you have nasal obstruction and your mouth is taped shut. Think about that for a second. If you have congestion from allergies, a cold, or a deviated septum, and you tape your mouth closed, you’ve just blocked your primary airway without a backup. That’s not a theoretical risk. That’s a real danger. Third, the researchers noted something called “mouth puffing.” This is fascinating and concerning. Some patients with taped mouths developed a compensatory behavior where their cheeks would inflate and deflate, almost like they’re trying to breathe around the obstruction. And here’s the kicker: this mouth puffing actually worsened their Apnea-Hypopnea Index, which is the main measure of sleep apnea severity. So in these cases, taping the mouth didn’t just fail to help, it made things worse.

Now you might be thinking, “Wait, Chris, you just said you use mouth tape yourself. How do you score that with all these safety concerns?” Well, that’s a great question, and it gets to the heart of why context matters so much. Let me tell you my story, because it illustrates the difference between indiscriminate mouth taping and its use as part of a comprehensive approach. When my family and I moved to Park City, Utah in 2019, I developed mild sleep apnea. I didn’t have it when we lived in the Bay Area at sea level, but at 6500 feet, the lower oxygen levels were enough to trigger mild apnea. It wasn’t severe enough to warrant a CPAP machine, and frankly, I didn’t want to go in that direction if I could avoid it. But I knew I needed to address it, because I was aware of the research linking sleep apnea with many different health conditions. I already suspected that my jaw anatomy was contributing to airway issues. Back in eighth grade, I had four adult teeth removed by a dentist who didn’t understand the long-term consequences of that intervention. Removing those teeth caused my jaw to narrow, and it compromised my airway. So I found a dental orthopedist in Park City who specializes in sleep apnea and airway issues. He created a custom device for me to wear at night, similar to a mandibular advancement device, that helps open my airways and facilitates clear nasal breathing. Once I started using that device, I added mouth taping, and I’ve had very good results. But here’s the crucial point. The device opens my airway and nasal passages, which makes mouth taping possible and safe for me. Without addressing the underlying anatomical issue first, I don’t think mouth taping would have helped much. It might have even caused harm by forcing me to breathe through a partially obstructed airway. The mouth tape isn’t fixing anything. It’s supporting the intervention that actually addresses the root cause, which is improving my airway patency.

Mouth taping is trending everywhere on social media—but does it actually improve sleep? In this episode, Chris breaks down the science behind mouth taping, when it might help, when it could make sleep apnea worse, and why airway anatomy matters. #ChrisKresser

This brings us to a really important study published in JAMA Otolaryngology in 2024 that helps explain why mouth taping works for some people but not others. Researchers at Harvard studied 54 people with obstructive sleep apnea and manually closed their mouths during sleep to see how this affected their breathing. They found that about 60 percent of participants breathed more easily with their mouths closed. But for a significant minority, that other 40 percent, closing the mouth actually made breathing worse. The key factor was airway anatomy, specifically the soft palate. If you have a substantial blockage in that area, you’re more likely to mouth breathe because that’s your main pathway for air. For those people, closing the mouth blocks their primary airway, which reduces total airflow. That’s dangerous. On the other hand, if you don’t have significant blockage at the soft palate, closing your mouth can actually open the airway more fully and improve breathing. The lead researcher, Dr. Philip Huyett, put it well. He said that people who rely on mouth breathing because of sleep apnea may find that tape makes breathing worse. You’re avoiding nasal breathing because you have sleep apnea, and if you close your mouth, there’s less of an airway to breathe through. This individual variation is why a one-size-fits-all recommendation doesn’t work here.

There’s another context where mouth taping has shown promise: when used in combination with a mandibular advancement device, as in my case. A 2022 study in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society found that combining mouth taping with a mandibular advancement device was significantly more effective than using the device alone. The researchers theorized that the mandibular advancement device can increase mouth breathing, which reduces its effectiveness. By adding mouth tape to keep the mouth closed, they saw better results. In that study, 76 percent of participants achieved an Apnea-Hypopnea Index of less than 10 events per hour with the combination of the device and mouth tape, compared to only 43 percent with the device alone. The median AHI dropped from 10.5 to 5.6 events per hour. That’s a clinically meaningful difference. But again, this was in a specific context– people who were already using a mandibular advancement device and had clear nasal passages. It wasn’t just random people taping their mouths based on what they saw on TikTok.

So what does all of this mean for you? If you’re considering mouth taping, here’s what you need to know. First, don’t use mouth taping as a substitute for proper diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea. If you’re snoring loudly, waking up gasping for air, or your partner notices that you stop breathing during sleep, those are signs of obstructive sleep apnea, and you need to see a doctor or a dentist who specializes in this. Mouth taping won’t cure sleep apnea on its own. In fact, if you have moderate to severe apnea, mouth taping could be dangerous, because you might have episodes where you’re not breathing adequately and your body needs to wake you up to breathe. If your mouth is taped shut and you have nasal obstruction, that’s a problem.

Second, before trying mouth taping, make sure your nasal passages are clear. If you have chronic nasal congestion, allergies, a deviated septum, or nasal polyps, you need to address those issues first. Forcing yourself to breathe through an obstructed nose by taping your mouth shut increases the work of breathing and can lead to fragmented sleep, or worse. See a functional medicine clinician about treating your nasal congestion. That might mean dietary changes, addressing gut health, nasal sprays, or, in some cases, seeing a surgeon to correct structural issues.

Third, if you do try mouth taping, do it carefully and pay attention to how you feel. Start by trying it for short periods while you’re awake to get used to the sensation. Use tape designed for sensitive skin that won’t irritate your lips. Don’t use duct tape or other industrial tape. There are products specifically made for mouth taping that use a gentle adhesive. And if you wake up feeling like you’re not getting enough air, or you’re more tired after sleeping with mouth tape than without it, stop doing it. Your body’s telling you something.

Fourth, consider working with a dentist who specializes in sleep medicine and understands airway anatomy. This was crucial for me. These specialists can assess whether you have anatomical issues that are contributing to mouth breathing or sleep-disordered breathing. They can recommend interventions like mandibular advancement devices, palate expansion, or myofunctional therapy. Addressing the root cause makes a huge difference, and it might make mouth taping more effective and safer if you choose to try it. I want to emphasize something I have often said before: there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to health interventions. What works for one person may not work for another, or may even be harmful. We see this with diet, with exercise, and definitely with something like mouth taping. Your airway anatomy, your nasal patency, whether you have sleep apnea, the severity of your sleep apnea, and what underlying factors are contributing to your sleep issues all matter. These individual factors determine whether mouth taping will help you.

Social media can be a great source of information and ideas, and I’m glad that people are exploring different ways to optimize their health. But we’ve seen over and over again that viral health trends often get ahead of the science, and important context gets lost in the pursuit of views and engagement. Mouth taping is a perfect example. The basic idea, that nasal breathing is better than mouth breathing, is sound. But the leap from that principle to “everyone should tape their mouth at night” is not supported by the evidence. If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this episode, it’s that context is everything. Mouth taping might be beneficial for people with mild sleep apnea who have clear nasal passages and are using it in combination with other interventions that address underlying anatomical issues. But for people with moderate to severe sleep apnea, nasal obstruction, or certain types of airway collapse, it could be ineffective or even dangerous. And for most people, we just don’t have strong evidence yet on whether it helps.

The best approach is to start with a proper diagnosis. If you’re concerned about your sleep quality, if you’re snoring, if you’re waking up tired, despite sleeping for what should be enough hours, see a doctor or a dentist who specializes in this. Get a sleep study if appropriate. Work with people who understand the mechanics of breathing and sleep. Address any underlying issues like nasal congestion or anatomical problems. Then, if taping makes sense in your specific situation, you can try it as part of a comprehensive approach, not as a standalone magic bullet.

Thanks for listening. You can find show notes and links to all the studies I mentioned at ChrisKresser.com. If you have questions about this episode or suggestions for future topics, head over to ChrisKresser.com/podcastquestion and leave a message. I read all of them, and your questions help shape the content I create. I’ll talk to you next time.