SnoreDoc vs. ZQuiet: Buyer Beware- Know the Differences Before You Buy

It’s pretty safe to say nobody enjoys snoring. Whether you’re a snorer or sleep with someone who is, you know just how much these annoying nocturnal rumbles disrupt your sleep. That’s why there are so many anti-snoring products on the market. From CPAP machines and tongue stabilizing devices to sprays, pillows, nasal strips, and much more, there is no shortage of techniques to put a stop to snoring.

Today, we’re going to take a look at two popular approaches:

• Mandibular advancement devices
• Anti-snoring chin straps

We aren’t doctors. However, my sleep partner suffers with obstructive sleep apnea, and we’ve tried quite a few different products on the market, so I’m ready to share our honest opinion of SnoreDoc vs. ZQuiet.

SnoreDoc vs. ZQuiet Comparison

MADs vs. Anti-Snoring Chinstraps

Snoring is largely due to the tongue and soft tissue relaxing and causing a blockage of the airway. However, the primary catalyst can vary from one person to the next. That’s why it’s hard to pinpoint a device that works best. Read our article differentiating some of the types of anti-snoring mouthpieces out there. For the purposes of analyzing SnoreDoc vs. ZQuiet, however, let’s focus in on how these two types work:

• • Mandibular Advancement Device

• • Advances the lower jaw (mandible) forward to prevent soft tissue and tongue from falling back into the throat

• • Anti-Snoring Chin Strap

• Supports lower mandible and keeps mouth from opening during sleep
• Primarily helpful for people who suffer with open-mouth snoring

A Unique Relationship

Most of us have heard the term “opposites attract”. We can complement one another in balancing strengths and weaknesses, and this is the type of relationship MADs and anti-snoring chin straps share. Let’s take a look:

• MADs can cause dry mouth while chin straps keep the mouth shut and prevent this.
• MADs prevent teeth grinding while chin straps can encourage it.
• MADs allow for mouth breathing while chin straps prevent it.

MADs

Chin Strap

In our experience, when used on their own, each of their products had hangups that were solved when combining the two.

• ZQuiet had a poor fit for my sleep partner as it’s on the small end of the spectrum for a male jaw. When used with SnoreDoc, he was better able to keep it from slipping out.
• SnoreDoc, when it was in place, did cause my sleep partner to grind his teeth. When ZQuiet is in place, this can’t occur.

How to Customize

Although the nature of these two devices is different, they both offer a way to customize to best fit your mouth or head:

• • SnoreDoc chin strap

• Open the Velcro strap
• Place your chin on the mesh chin pad
• Line ears up as closely as possible to the ear holes
• Reattach Velcro securely to keep lower jaw well-supported

• • ZQuiet MAD
• Two devices provided, one larger than the other
• Use the smaller version for the first few nights
• If smaller version doesn’t work, move on to the larger version

Potentially Great Fit for Female Snorers

The majority of habitual snorers are men. It’s really not surprising that most products cater toward the male consumer. However, the fact remains that 24% of women snore on a regular basis. While I don’t snore, I’ve tried sleeping with the various devices we’ve purchased for myself to see how they fit me.

Mandibular advancement devices are typically a very tight fit. You want to be able to close your mouth comfortably with them in place, and I typically struggle to achieve at this. However, I found the small version of the ZQuiet device to fit nicely. Likewise, the SnoreDoc chin strap was a decent fit for me except for the fact that the ear holes were a little bit small and mushed my ears down uncomfortably.

Males, Listen Up: Problems for My Sleep Partner

My sleep partner struggled with each of these devices. He found the chinstrap to be excessively uncomfortable, and he experienced even more trouble than I did getting his ears to fit in the holes. ZQuiet was difficult to keep in place, and even the larger version was small for his jaw size.

SnoreDoc vs ZQuiet: Do They Stop Snoring?

Both of these products have the ability to put a stop to my sleep partner’s snoring. Where they’re both lacking, however, is in consistency. He struggled to keep them in place. SnoreDoc slips off your head very easily, and this is a problem we both encountered. The material slips on your hair and seems to be even more difficult to keep on if you have long hair.

I had little trouble, on the other hand, keeping ZQuiet in place, but it easily and often slipped out of my sleep partner’s mouth. While he did have longer periods of success keeping it in place with the SnoreDoc chins strap on, when it would fall off, ZQuiet would typically slip out shortly thereafter.

Easy Cleaning and Maintenance

Cleaning and maintenance are very easy with each product. SnoreDoc can be hand-washed and line dried, and you can clean your ZQuiet mouthpiece with toothpaste and a toothbrush.

You should clean MADs after every use, so the toothpaste method can make it easy to fit in your routine. SnoreDoc doesn’t come with instructions, but we found it to be fitting to hand wash as you see fit. In our case, we washed it weekly with our bedsheets.

Take SnoreDoc’s Verbiage with a Grain of Salt

If you read the verbiage on SnoreDoc’s website, I want to warn you to take it with a grain of salt. They use terms like, “heavenly night’s sleep,” and “comfortably fits all head sizes.” Keep our experience in mind and the consider the fact that the majority of the reviews I saw online were similar. (Keep reading to learn about the deceptive nature of their 30 day money-back guarantee.)

ZQuiet Great for Mouth Breathing

Ideally, you want to breathe through your nose at night. However, certain medical conditions require you to breathe through your mouth. If you often wake up with dry mouth and want to learn to keep it shut while you sleep, chin straps can be a great option whether or not you snore.

If you suffer from a condition that causes severe nasal congestion, it can be dangerous to use chinstraps. Consult with your doctor if you’re not sure of your compatibility.

If you’re looking for a product that’s good for mouth breathing, ZQuiet is among the best we’ve tried out. That’s because it uses Living Hinge technology that allows you to open and close your mouth very freely.

Durability Expectations

Cost and durability are huge buying factors, and I always encourage you to look at them side-by-side. Some grocery stores have begun providing cost per ounce on price tags to help consumers understand, apples to apples, what products offer the best value, so let’s take a similar approach:

• • SnoreDoc
  • $28.99
  • Expected durability approximately four months
  • Price/month= $7.25
• ZQuiet
• $89.90 (including initial charge before end of trial period)
• Expected durability approximately 15 months
• Price/month= $5.99

Pay Close Attention to Trial Periods & Money Back Guarantees

Most manufacturer’s we’ve worked with understand their products aren’t going to work with everyone, and they work to help find compatible consumers by offering a trial period that typically allows you a reasonable time period to try out the product with the expectation of a full refund if it doesn’t work for you. I was a little disappointed with both of these products in terms of the trial and money back guarantee:

–  ZQuiet

• Initial payment of $9.95 charged when you order
• If you don’t return the product within 30 days, additional $79.95 charged on your credit card
• to find it was taken out when you weren’t expecting itI never like this kind of setup as it’s easy to forget about the payment only
• If you return device, initial $9.95 payment not returned

–  SnoreDoc

• 30 day money-back guarantee is contingent on you NOT USING OR EVEN OPENING DEVICE!
• Although I can’t think of a reason you’d do this after entering your credit card information and waiting for your device to arrive, if you do decide to send it back before you’ve even opened it, you will be charged:
• $9.99 s&h fee
• 15% restocking fee ($4.35)
• The total cost to return the product is $14.34, almost half of the cost of the product itself. Considering you can’t even use or open it before returning, this is the worst guarantee I’ve come across and feel it accurately reflects the subpar quality we experienced.

Our Verdict

ZQuiet is definitely our recommendation even though we did have a few reservations. I think it can be an excellent solution for women snorers, but men or those with larger jaws may have trouble keeping it in place. In this case, use with SnoreDoc could help, but good luck keeping it on all night.

I’d suggest male snorer’s who think they can benefit from the ZQuiet/chinstrap combination check out My Snoring Solution. It’s a higher-quality chin strap with which we had much more success.

In just about every way, ZQuiet is the superior choice. Durability is much longer, and you’re able to stretch your dollar much further when you calculate in cost. Best of all, you actually get to try out the product before making up your mind during the 30 day money back guarantee. Although you do have to pay $9.95 even if you don’t keep it, this beats the $14.34 you’re out with the SnoreDoc chin strap you didn’t even get to take out of the box.

I hope this has helped point you in the right direction. It’s our sincere goal to help you make the right decision the first time around. If you have any questions or comments, please fill out the form below. We’ll get back with you ASAP!