Snoring Solutions: A Dentist’s Guide to What Actually Works
Quick Answer: The snoring solutions that work are the ones matched to why you snore. Free measures come first: lose excess weight if it applies, cut evening alcohol, sleep on your side and clear a blocked nose. Chemist strips, sprays and boil-and-bite mouthpieces each treat only one cause and often miss. If snoring persists, get tested through your GP, because it can signal sleep apnoea, and consider a custom oral appliance.
Snoring solutions are everywhere: sprays, strips, pillows, mouthpieces in every chemist and a wall of promises online. Most of them never ask the only question that matters, which is why you snore in the first place. I have been on both sides of this problem. I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea myself, I could not tolerate CPAP, and the treatment that finally worked for me is the one I now provide to others. I am Dr Andre Schertel, Dentist, and I run Peninsula Snore Clinic in Mt Eliza. This is how I sort the options with my own patients.
Why So Many Snoring Solutions Disappoint
Snoring happens when the muscles holding your throat open relax during sleep. The lower jaw and tongue can drift back, the airway narrows, the air moving through it speeds up and becomes turbulent, and the surrounding soft tissue vibrates. That vibration is the noise. [1]
Whether you snore, and how badly, comes down to a handful of drivers:
- Excess weight, the single biggest driver of airway collapse during sleep [2]
- Evening alcohol, which relaxes the airway muscles further [3]
- Sleeping on your back, which lets gravity pull the tongue and soft palate backwards [4]
- A blocked nose, which forces mouth breathing [5]
- Smoking, which inflames and irritates the airway lining [6]
- Anatomy, including a set-back lower jaw, a large tongue or tonsils, or a naturally narrow throat
Here is the problem with most products: each one addresses one driver. A nasal strip cannot reposition a tongue. A pillow cannot shrink tonsils. When the solution does not match the cause, it fails, and the failure gets blamed on “nothing works” rather than on the mismatch.
There is a second, more serious problem. Snoring is also the most common symptom of obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition where the airway does not just narrow but repeatedly collapses while you sleep. A product that merely quietens the noise can leave the condition untreated. So the order matters: understand the cause, get tested if there are warning signs, and only then choose the treatment.
Free Snoring Solutions Worth Trying First
The cheapest snoring solutions are also the ones with the strongest evidence behind them, and they work best stacked together. I went through each of these in detail in my guide on how to stop snoring, so here is the short version:
- Weight, if it applies to you. In the INTERAPNEA randomised trial, an eight-week weight loss and lifestyle programme cut the apnoea-hypopnoea index by 51%, and at six months 61.8% of participants no longer needed CPAP. [2]
- Alcohol. A systematic review and meta-analysis found alcohol measurably worsens breathing during sleep, with a larger effect in people who already snore. [3]
- Position. In positional snorers, apnoeas and loud snoring occur mostly on the back, and positional therapy devices reduced the apnoea-hypopnoea index by over half in a meta-analysis. A firm body pillow is a free version of the same idea. [4]
- Your nose. In a ten-year population study of more than 10,000 adults, nasal symptoms predicted new-onset snoring. Treat hay fever, try saline rinses, and see your GP about persistent blockage. [5]
- Smoking. Both current and former smokers show higher odds of significant sleep apnoea on overnight testing. [6]
If you are a light or occasional snorer, this list may be all you need. If your snoring comes from the shape of your airway, these steps will help, but they will rarely be enough on their own. They were not enough for me.
The Chemist Aisle: Strips, Sprays, Pillows and Ready-Made Mouthpieces
The chemist aisle is where most people start hunting for snoring solutions, and it is where the mismatch between product and cause shows up most. Nasal strips and dilators make breathing through the nose easier. For people whose snoring starts in the nose they can take the edge off, and they are cheap enough to be worth a trial. They do nothing for a tongue or jaw problem.
Throat sprays promise to tighten or lubricate the tissue. I have not seen convincing evidence for them, and I do not recommend them.
Anti-snoring pillows and vibrating position trainers are positional therapy in a consumer wrapper. The principle is sound for back sleepers [4], so if your partner confirms you only snore on your back, this category is at least aimed at the right cause.
Then there are boil-and-bite mouthpieces, the ready-made cousins of the appliances I fit. This is where the numbers deserve your full attention. In a randomised trial comparing ready-made with custom-made devices, the custom appliance achieved a complete treatment response in 64% of participants; the ready-made version managed 24%, and 36% of its users were outright treatment failures compared with 4% for custom. Participants also wore the custom device more nights per week and more hours per night. [7] The clinical guideline is plain on this point: if an oral appliance is used, it should be a custom, titratable one. [8] A mouthpiece that does not grip your teeth properly falls out, rubs, and ends up in the bedside drawer, which makes it the most expensive option per night it is actually worn.
Medical Snoring Solutions: CPAP, Custom Oral Appliances and Surgery
If testing shows sleep apnoea, or lifestyle change has not tamed the snoring, you are into treatment proper.
CPAP is more efficacious than any oral appliance on a sleep study, and for severe sleep apnoea it remains the right starting point. Its weakness is not the science, it is the mask on your face every night, and many people never make peace with it.
A custom mandibular advancement splint holds the lower jaw gently forward during sleep, keeping the airway open. Across 34 randomised trials in 1,301 patients, oral appliances reduced the apnoea-hypopnoea index by an average of 13.6 events per hour, and they substantially reduce snoring itself. [8] Head-to-head with CPAP, CPAP wins on the sleep study numbers, but appliances tend to be worn for more of the night, and that adherence advantage can offset the efficacy gap, producing comparable effectiveness overall. [9] I have written a separate detailed guide to snoring mouthguards covering fit, side effects and who suits one.
Surgery has a role for specific anatomical problems, large tonsils being the clearest example, and that is a conversation for an ENT surgeon after proper assessment. It is not where most adults should start.
Before You Spend Another Dollar, Get a Diagnosis
You cannot tell how serious snoring is from the noise alone. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine is unambiguous: sleep apnoea is diagnosed with a sleep study, in a laboratory or at home, not with questionnaires or apps. [10] And it is common. In the Busselton Healthy Ageing Study of middle-aged Australians, 57.7% of men and 41.7% of women had at least mild sleep apnoea on overnight testing. [11]
Untreated, it keeps rough company: regular snoring has been linked to uncontrolled blood pressure in an Australian study of more than 12,000 people [12], the American Heart Association ties untreated sleep apnoea to hypertension, atrial fibrillation, stroke and cardiovascular mortality [13], and a meta-analysis found the odds of a car crash were 2.36 times higher in people with sleep apnoea [14].
The pathway is simple. See your GP, describe what your partner hears at night, and ask about a sleep study or a referral to a sleep physician. If you already have a sleep study report, bring it along to your first appointment and we can start at the planning stage. I work alongside GPs and sleep physicians rather than around them, and that is deliberate.
Snoring Solutions on the Mornington Peninsula
Peninsula Snore Clinic exists for the treatment end of this pathway. I am a dentist with a Fellowship in Dental Sleep Medicine from the Australasian Sleep Association, and the clinic provides custom mandibular advancement splints for snoring and mild to moderate sleep apnoea, fitted from precise records of your teeth and adjusted over follow-up visits until they do their job. Before recommending one I examine your teeth, gums and jaw joints, and I will tell you plainly if a splint is not the right answer for you.
We are at 1299 Nepean Hwy, Mt Eliza, and we see patients from across the Mornington Peninsula, Bayside, Western Port and Frankston, including Mornington, Mount Martha, Rosebud and Seaford. You can reach us on 03 9775 4600.
How to Choose Well
Name the likely cause, or better, have it named for you with a proper assessment. Fix the free things first. Test before you treat if there is any warning sign. And if an oral appliance turns out to be the answer, make it a custom one, fitted and followed up, not a guess from a box. The snoring solutions that actually work are the ones matched to the reason you snore, and finding that reason is the part we take most seriously.
This article is general information only and is not a substitute for individual medical or dental advice. If you are concerned about your sleep or breathing, please speak with your GP. Individual results vary and a thorough assessment is recommended before beginning any treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions: Snoring Solutions
What is the best snoring solution?
There is no single best one. The right snoring solution depends on why you snore: position, weight, a blocked nose, or the shape of your jaw and tongue. Matching the fix to the cause is what works; a random gadget usually does not.
Do anti-snoring devices from the chemist work?
Nasal strips help if your snoring starts in the nose, and position trainers help back-sleepers. Throat sprays have little evidence. Boil-and-bite mouthpieces are a false economy: in trials the custom appliance worked far more often and was worn more.
How do I know which snoring solution I need?
Have the cause named, ideally with a proper assessment. If there are warning signs of sleep apnoea, get a sleep study through your GP before treating. Then match the treatment to the finding.
Are snoring solutions covered by health insurance?
The lifestyle measures are free. A custom oral appliance is usually rebatable under private health extras dental cover, and we claim it on the spot with HICAPS. Chemist devices are not rebatable.
When is snoring a medical problem?
When it is loud and regular, when a partner sees you stop breathing or gasp, or when you wake unrefreshed and tired through the day. Those point to obstructive sleep apnoea, which needs testing.
References
[1] Saha S, et al. A subject-specific acoustic model of the upper airway for snoring sounds generation. Scientific Reports. 2016;6:25730. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep25730
[2] Carneiro-Barrera A, et al. Effect of an interdisciplinary weight loss and lifestyle intervention on obstructive sleep apnea severity: the INTERAPNEA randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open. 2022;5(4):e228212. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2791455
[3] Kolla BP, et al. The impact of alcohol on breathing parameters during sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2018;42:59-67. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8520474/
[4] Ravesloot MJL, et al. Efficacy of the new generation of devices for positional therapy for patients with positional obstructive sleep apnea: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2017;13(6):813-824. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5443742/
[5] Värendh M, et al. Nasal symptoms increase the risk of snoring and snoring increases the risk of nasal symptoms: a longitudinal population study. Sleep and Breathing. 2021;25(4):1851-1857. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11325-020-02287-8
[6] Krüger M, et al. Breathing bad: increased risk for obstructive sleep apnea in current and former smokers. Scientific Reports. 2026;16:13382. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-48908-2
[7] Johal A, et al. Ready-made versus custom-made mandibular repositioning devices in sleep apnea: a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2017;13(2):175-182. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5263072/
[8] Ramar K, et al. Clinical practice guideline for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and snoring with oral appliance therapy: an update for 2015. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2015;11(7):773-827. https://aasm.org/resources/clinicalguidelines/oral_appliance-osa.pdf
[9] Sutherland K, et al. Oral appliance treatment for obstructive sleep apnea: an update. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2014;10(2):215-227. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3899326/
[10] Kapur VK, et al. Clinical practice guideline for diagnostic testing for adult obstructive sleep apnea: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2017;13(3):479-504. https://aasm.org/resources/clinicalguidelines/diagnostic-testing-osa.pdf
[11] Cunningham J, et al. The prevalence and comorbidities of obstructive sleep apnea in middle-aged men and women: the Busselton Healthy Ageing Study. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2021;17(10):2029-2039. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8494083/
[12] Lechat B, et al. Regular snoring is associated with uncontrolled hypertension. npj Digital Medicine. 2024;7:38. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-024-01026-7
[13] Yeghiazarians Y, et al. Obstructive sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2021;144(3):e56-e67. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000988
[14] Luzzi V, et al. Correlations of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and daytime sleepiness with the risk of car accidents in adult working population: a systematic review and meta-analysis with a gender-based approach. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2022;11(14):3971. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11/14/3971