If you have sleep apnea or another condition that causes snoring, you may want to talk with your doctor about the Thornton Adjustable Positioner II. It could help.

Loud snoring is the bane of many a marriage bed and is common in people with sleep apnea. But a new oral appliance designed to move the lower jaw forward can help snorers -- and their bed partner -- sleep and breathe a bit easier, according to a new study reported in the journal Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (Volume 136, page 827).

The researchers tested a two-piece device that snaps over the upper and lower teeth in 60 people who snored, some of whom had sleep apnea. They found that people who used the device, called the Thornton Adjustable Positioner II (TAP II), for three weeks snored less and more quietly than they had snored previously.

The device reduced both "palatal snoring" (the type that occurs when the muscles of the palate relax during sleep) and snoring caused when the tongue falls backwards into the airway. Wearing the device also reduced the snorers' number of oxygen desaturation events, in which oxygen levels were decreased by 4% or more from normal levels.

Sleep apnea can lower oxygen levels as a result of the many brief breathing pauses that occur during the night. If you know that you're a loud snorer or a loved one complains about your snoring, ask your doctor whether an oral appliance may help.