Does mouth taping change your jawline or face shape?

There's no evidence that mouth taping changes your jawline or face shape. No study has tested it, and the Sleep Foundation says claims that mouth taping strengthens jaw muscles or reshapes the face are anecdotal at best. The idea borrows from research on children's facial growth, a different question. Mouth tape's encouraging early research is about snoring and sleep, not looks.

Where does the jawline claim come from?

Mouth taping spread largely through social media. A scoping review in the American Journal of Otolaryngology looked at the medical research on mouth taping alongside 50 TikTok videos about it. The researchers found the most common claimed benefits on TikTok were improved sleep and oral health, and that few TikTok claims about the practice had been evaluated by research.

The Sleep Foundation also mentions the jawline directly. It notes that social media claims mouth taping can improve sleep quality, prevent bad breath and define the jawline, but says the purported benefits are mostly anecdotal, as few studies have backed them up.

Cleveland Clinic's article on mouth taping lists the theorized benefits of breathing through your nose at night, and "structural improvements to your jawline" is on that list alongside things like better snoring and less dry mouth. It's presented as part of the theory behind the trend, not as a finding. Cleveland Clinic's sleep specialist says there isn't strong enough evidence to support mouth tape as beneficial.

What does the research say about mouth taping and face shape?

There isn't any research on mouth taping and face shape. The 2025 systematic review in PLOS One found 10 studies on mouth taping, with 213 patients in total, and they looked at breathing during sleep, not appearance. The scoping review found nine relevant studies covering things like sleep apnea, snoring and asthma. None measured the jaw or face.

The Sleep Foundation's summary is the clearest statement we found. It says there is no scientific evidence that mouth taping directly improves the jawline, and that jawline appearance is influenced by factors like genetics, body fat, age and overall muscle tone, not whether someone tapes their mouth at night.

Does mouth breathing change your face shape?

In children, there's evidence of a link. A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis in BMC Oral Health pooled 10 studies comparing children who breathe through their mouths with children who breathe through their noses. All the children in the review were under 18. In the mouth-breathing children, the upper and lower jaws tended to be rotated backward and downward, and narrowing of the airway was common. The upper front teeth also tended to tilt forward. These are skeletal measurements, not judgments about how attractive a jawline looks.

Cleveland Clinic describes this in plainer terms. It says breathing through the mouth instead of the nose can change the shape of a child's face, which may be narrow, with a receding chin or jaw and upper and lower teeth that don't line up.

That's where the jawline idea likely gets its scientific flavor. But there are two big gaps between that research and an adult taping their mouth.

First, the studies are about children, whose faces are still growing. Cleveland Clinic's page on mouth breathing describes these effects in children and says mouth breathing in adults isn't a serious health issue. It doesn't describe face-shape changes in adults.

Second, the research compares groups of children who already breathe differently. It doesn't test whether switching to nose breathing, by tape or anything else, changes an existing face. And mouth tape isn't for children in any case.

What does happen to your jaw when your mouth falls open at night?

Your jaw does change position when your mouth falls open at night, just not in the way social media suggests. The authors of a 2022 mouth taping study in Healthcare explain that when the mouth opens during sleep, the lower jaw moves down and the soft palate shifts backward. That narrows the airway behind the palate and the tongue, which can make snoring and breathing problems during sleep worse.

So the jaw position that matters for mouth tape is the one you're in while you sleep, and the goal is an open airway, not a different-looking face. Keeping the lips closed is meant to keep you breathing through your nose, which the same authors note meets less resistance than mouth breathing during sleep.

What is mouth tape actually good for?

Snoring is where the research looks most promising. In the 2022 study, researchers taped the mouths of 20 adults who breathed through their mouths at night and had mild sleep apnea. After a week, 13 of them had cut their snoring by at least half, and the group's median number of breathing interruptions per hour fell from 8.3 to 4.7. The Sleep Foundation says some small studies suggest mouth taping may reduce snoring and daytime fatigue in people with mild sleep apnea.

The research is still early. The study was small, had no comparison group, and only included people with mild sleep apnea, and mouth tape isn't a treatment for sleep apnea. But if you snore and your mouth tends to fall open at night, that's a far better reason to try tape than your jawline. Our guide to whether mouth tape helps snoring goes through the studies, and what is mouth taping covers the basics.

Is nasal breathing still worth it if it won't change your face?

Nasal breathing is still worth it for many people, even if it won't change your face. The case for breathing through your nose at night has nothing to do with appearance. The Sleep Foundation says nasal breathing helps filter allergens and warms and humidifies the air you breathe in, and the authors of the 2022 study describe the same functions of the nose: heating, humidifying and filtering air. Cleveland Clinic lists dry mouth, bad breath and snoring among the common symptoms of mouth breathing.

Those are everyday, practical reasons to want your mouth closed while you sleep. If they apply to you, mouth tape is one simple way to try it, as long as your nose is clear. Our guide to nasal vs. mouth breathing explains the differences in more detail.

What should you do if you're worried about your face shape?

If the concern is a child who breathes through their mouth, Cleveland Clinic recommends talking to a healthcare provider, who can find out why air can't get in through the nose. Treatment depends on the cause, and Cleveland Clinic lists options like allergy medication and, in some cases, surgery such as adenoid removal. The Sleep Foundation adds that mouth breathing may slow growth in children and that mouth taping in children hasn't been studied and shouldn't be tried. Our guide to mouth breathing in children has more.

If you're an adult interested in jaw or facial changes, that's a question for a dentist, orthodontist or doctor. Mouth tape isn't a cosmetic tool, and there's no evidence it works as one.

Is mouth taping good for you?

Mouth taping is good for you if you snore or wake up with a dry mouth because your mouth falls open while you sleep. Those are the problems mouth tape is designed for, and the snoring research, while small, is encouraging. If you try it, make sure you can breathe comfortably through your nose first with our nose test, and read is mouth taping safe? before you start.

If you want to try mouth tape, our pick is the Titan Bamboo Silk Mouth Tape.

Read next

• Nasal vs. mouth breathing: what's the difference?
• Mouth taping myths
• How to start mouth taping: your first week

* This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or health condition. Talk to a qualified healthcare provider about your health.