About

Mouth Taping or Mouth Tape for Sleep refers to the act of taping your mouth shut while you sleep to force yourself to breathe through your nose while asleep. Allegedly, taping your mouth shut while sleeping can help you get a better sleep and prevent gum disease, the worsening of sleep apnea, snoring and bad breath. In 2022, TikTokers began sharing the advice in videos on the app, inspiring some healthcare professionals to share the potential dangers of taping the mouth with everyday tape not made for mouth taping.

Origin

On March 14th, 2009, Pub Med^[1] published a study about the effect of mouth taping in relation to asthma control. The study found that taping the mouth at night had "no effect on asthma control in patients with symptomatic asthma."

Some dentists support mouth taping as a way of helping keep the teeth and mouth clean, as it forces you to keep your mouth closed, deterring bacteria from entering. In May 2016, Ask the Dentist^[2] published a guide on mouth taping, mentioning how you should not use everyday tape for the procedure as it can damage the skin and lips. They recommend Somnifix Sleep Strips, a tape made specifically for mouth taping. In February 2019, Everyday Health^[3] published an article on mouth taping

Spread

In 2021 and, more prominently in 2022, TikTokers began spreading the word about mouth taping through videos, boasting it as a way to help get a better sleep. On April 7th, 2021, TikToker @healthwithcory posted a video about mouth taping, saying that you can get mouth strips made for this but some can use "a gentle paper medical tape," warning people against using duct tape. The video gained over 5 million views in a year (shown below).

Throughout 2022, TikTokers continued to post videos sharing mouth taping as a sleep and dental hack, particularly throughout June to August of that year (examples shown below). Some of the creators claim you can use regular tape to tape the mouth or do not specify that you should use mouth tape.

Criticism

On August 10th, 2022, Twitter^[4] user @MDMercyMedia, run by Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, made a post warning about the dangers of mouth taping, writing, "lips are too delicate to stick and rip off tape every day; if a person w/taped mouth has to throw up, they run risk of choking on their own vomit." Fox News^[5] reported on the dangers of the trend the next day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References