When you sleep, your muscles relax, including the ones in your throat. This relaxation can cause your airway to narrow, making it difficult for your lungs to inhale and exhale the amount of air you need. If your airway narrows, the air you breathe is pulled through it faster. This causes the soft tissue in the airway to dehydrate and vibrate. The sound this makes is what you hear as snoring. For some people, the airway becomes so narrow that the walls of the airway stick together and close up. This usually happens for around 10-30 seconds at a time, but can occur for longer. This is known as an apnoea. The SleepDoctor Oral Device treats snoring and mild-to-moderate sleep apnoea by holding your jaw forward during sleep. This helps to keep your airway open, stopping it from collapsing during the night and helping you to breathe easily. Oral devices are a recommended treatment by the NHS for loud snoring and sleep apnoea.