As someone who has been a snorer for years, or at least that’s what my various partners have told me, I am blissfully unaware of the problem. Every morning I jump out of bed suitable refreshed and ready to face the world, only to see my wife looking exhausted and tired.
Being honest, the extent of the problem is hard to explain, and it was putting a significant strain on the most important relationship in my life. The guilt I felt was almost too much of a weight to bear, and my wife was always grumpy, tired and snappy. We had arguments virtually every day, and I knew that I had to find a solution.
Since then, I have tried a number of the best stop snoring devices, including mouthguards, anti-snoring pillows, and chinstraps.
I found a number of the stop snoring aids worked to stop my problem partially, but after trying over 20 devices, I found my favorites. If you’re totally new to them, I think that these are great devices to start with.
My Top Anti-Snoring Devices
Device | Type of Device | Risk-Free Return Guarantee | FDA Approved |
---|---|---|---|
SnoreRX | Adjustable MAD | 30 Days Full Refund | Yes |
VitalSleep | Adjustable MAD | 60 Days Full Refund | Yes |
SleepTight | Adjustable MAD | 30 Days Full Refund | Yes |
Good Morning Snore Solution | 30 Days Full Refund | Yes | |
ZQuiet | Hinged MAD | 30 Days Full Refund | Designated Class II |
SnoreMeds | Adjustable MAD | 45 Days Full Refund | Yes |
These were my favorites after 30 days of trial period, let me know if if you have a great experience with a stop snoring mouthpiece not listed above.
What Causes Snoring
To understand on how the best anti-snoring devices work, let's first dig deep into what causes snoring. Watch the video below.
What is a Snoring Mouthpiece and how does it work?
Before discussing why and how an anti-snoring device works it is important to have at least a basic understanding of what causes people to snore. If you have ever blown up a balloon, and then let the air escape, you will recognize a sound not dissimilar to snoring. That is because the process of snoring is relatively similar. During the day, as we breathe normally, our body is alert and primed for action. Just behind the tongue, there is an upper airway, which functions correctly during waking hours. Unfortunately at night, when we are asleep, the muscles in that airway relax, which reduces the size of the airway. As you breathe the air is forced through a reduced area, which then causes the soft tissue to vibrate which creates the noise known as snoring.
There are essentially two different methods to try and tackle the issue of snoring. In my opinion, the most common and most successful for me are the Mandibular Advancement Devices (MADs). These work by pulling the lower jaw forward slightly, which in turn opens the airway, reducing the risk of snoring. The other type of device is called a Tongue Stabilizing Device (TSD), and it works by pulling the tongue forward slightly and then holding it in place, once again increasing the size of the opening behind the tongue. Personally, I tried only one TSD device and did not like the idea of having a clothes-peg pinching my tongue during the night.
Which device is more likely to work?
This is an almost impossible question to answer as every person will have a different experience. The good news is that many of the products available on the market come with money back guarantees, so it is possible to test them out entirely risk-free. During my somewhat exhaustive testing, I have probably purchased upwards of twenty different mouthpieces, but I only intend to focus on what I found to be the best ones. After all, you just want an answer to the problem; you don’t need to become a snoring mouthpiece walking encyclopedia. So let’s get stuck into my reviews, and I sincerely hope that this site will help you solve what has to be one of the most frustrating problems in modern day life. I think it is fair to say that none of these devices are going to make you look like Brad Pitt, but trust me when I say, if as a result of wearing them your partner gets a good night's sleep, then looking a little silly is a price worth paying.
My Best Stop Snoring Solutions
This is an almost impossible question to answer as every person will have a different experience. The good news is that many of the products available on the market come with money back guarantees, so it is possible to test them out entirely risk-free.
During my somewhat exhaustive testing, I have probably purchased upwards of twenty different mouthpieces, but I only intend to focus on what I found to be the best ones. After all, you just want an answer to the problem; you don’t need to become a snoring mouthpiece walking encyclopedia.
So let’s get stuck into my reviews, and I sincerely hope that this site will help you solve what has to be one of the most frustrating problems in modern day life. I think it is fair to say that none of these devices are going to make you look like Brad Pitt, but trust me when I say, if as a result of wearing them your partner gets a good night's sleep, then looking a little silly is a price worth paying.
SnoreRX
I am not the luckiest man in the world, and typically the SnoreRX was one of the last devices I tried. Perhaps if I had used it first, this article wouldn’t even have been written, and I would have saved myself and my wife hours of sleepless nights, and a not inconsiderable sum of money in the process.
In my personal opinion, this is the best snoring mouthguard out there, and it has given my wife her life back. To any snorers reading this that think that might seem like an exaggeration, ask your partner how great it would be to have a good nights sleep, and you might be shocked by their response.
The first feature that I particularly love about the SnoreRX is the amount of control and flexibility it provides.
Many of the lower prices MAD's only had one or two positions to choose from, but if your mouth cannot get comfortable in either of those positions, then the device is to all extents and purposes useless.
With the SnoreRX you have the capability of forward micro-adjustments, by up to 10 mm. This attention to detail and flexibility enabled me to be able to find a setting that was not only comfortable for me to wear but solved my snoring problem.
Another small but important feature of the SnoreRX is that it utilizes boil and bite technology. Before I embarked on my snoring mouthguard research, I had never given much thought to the fact that everyone has a different shaped mouth and teeth. There is no such thing as a one size fits all mouthguard, and although you could visit a dentist and have one professionally installed, the cost for most people would be prohibitive. With the SnoreRX I was able to heat up the product in boiling water, which softened the special material contained within the device. After thirty seconds I took it out of the boiling water and gave it about five seconds to cool down before placing it in my mouth and biting down.
The special material molds itself to the shape of your mouth and teeth giving you an individual fitted product.
I will be totally honest here; I don’t believe that any mouthpiece will ever be comfortable, at least initially, your mouth needs to get used to having an external product inside it, which by its very nature forces your jaw to sit in a different position than where it would naturally. However with a little bit of persistence and determination, your mouth does get used to a mouthguard, and eventually, it almost becomes second nature.
The SnoreRX is not the cheapest product on the market, but on the flip side, the manufacturers claim that its lifespan is anywhere between 12 to 15 months. When you consider that the majority of the competition last between 4 to 6 months, then the price suddenly appears much more competitive.
The SnoreRX is certified by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and fully complies with Medicare standards. It is made in the USA and comes with a full 30-day money back guarantee.
As with all mouthguards, it will take a little time to get used to wearing it and be prepared to drool a little when you first start to use the product. I can obviously only speak from my personal experience, but knowing what I do now if I was in your position and looking for the best device to start with, then the SnoreRX would be at the top of my list.
The Sleeptight Mouthpiece
Before finding the SnoreRX, my favorite snoring mouthpiece was the Sleeptight. Now it goes without saying that if this device had delivered outstanding results for me, then I would never have contemplated trying SnoreRX. However, with all that being said, this is still an excellent product, that is very reasonably priced.
One of the things that gave me a lot of faith in the product was that it was designed by a dentist. In my opinion, this means that it is designed by an expert which means that my teeth should not be at any risk, something that always worries me with any device I place in my mouth while I am asleep. It also has an air hole built into it that assists with the breathing process. I found with some of the other mouthpieces that my breathing was slightly impeded, which can be quite scary.
On the negative side of things, there is no way to adjust this device like the SnoreRX, so if it doesn’t fit your mouth correctly, there is no option to alter or change anything. I guess you could say the best option is to try it and hope. One huge benefit that the Sleeptight brings to the table is that for anyone who wears partial dentures, this device claims to be suitable. Nearly all of the other MAD devices explicitly mention the fact that they are not suitable for denture wearers.
The company behind Sleeptight offers a low initial cost trial, so it is inexpensive to test the device, at the time of writing it was only $10 to try it out. I would still recommend this product even though I switched to the SnoreRX. I used it for nearly five months, and it made a drastic improvement to my snoring. In my case, the reason I decided to try a different model was that it just wasn’t overly comfortable, even after five months, but your experience may be different. Highly recommended!
Smart Nora
Another option that might be worthy of your consideration is an anti-snoring pillow. I understand the fear and discomfort of sleeping with a device in my mouth, and so the pillow certainly presents a lot of benefits. The idea behind an anti-snoring pillow is the same as with any of the in-mouth devices. The pillow is supposed to position your head and neck ideally, to maximize the opening of the airways, and minimize the chances of snoring.
I will admit to being a bit of a gadget addict, which is why I was tempted to look into the Smart Nora. The premise of Nora is that it will not force you to sleep in a particular way or change the position of your mouth. However you toss and turn during the night, Nora will prevent you from snoring. The device works in conjunction with your mobile phone and consists of five different parts - the pillow (It will work with any pillow, a mini-pump, a rechargeable battery, a microphone, and an expander. You install the app on your phone and then set everything up.
The science behind how this device works is just amazing. The microphone will monitor your sleeping pattern and listen out for any sounds of snoring. If and when it detects snoring, a signal is sent to the pump to inflate or deflate the expander under the pillow effectively altering your posture and stopping the snoring from occurring. The battery is rechargeable, which means that the entire system is portable if you are going on vacation or staying overnight on a business trip.
This system was a dream to use, and being a gadget addict appealed to my addiction. I loved the fact that there was no need to place anything into my mouth, and that I didn’t need to worry about cleaning mouthpieces, or for that matter drooling. Although my wife never made any comment, I doubt that I looked the particularly appealing first thing in the morning with a plastic mouthguard in my mouth, and drool running down my chin!
The only negative aspect of this fantastic product is the cost. Although it is cheaper than I expected, it is more expensive than the mouth guards, although those devices do need to be replaced. I obviously have no way of working out how long Nora will last, but anything over two years I would think that it might be the cheaper option. Nora is only available online, and I found quite a wide variation in price, anywhere between $179 and 299 dollars
Conclusion
Personally I think if you want to go with a mouthguard option then the SnoreRX is the best option, but alternatively both Zyppah and Zquiet are good options especially if your allergies are acting up. If you are prepared to throw little extra money at the problem, both for convenience, hygiene, and a lot less hassle then Nora could be your new best friend.