Most of what's on the shelf for nose breathing was built for one night, then thrown away — pharmacy strips, paper tape, single-use plastic. Aira is the version we wanted ourselves: reusable, beautiful, anchored magnetically, and engineered to disappear the moment it's on.
Forty percent of adults breathe through their mouth at night. The downstream effects — drier sleep, lower oxygen saturation, fourfold cavity risk, and a measurable hit to next-day energy — are well documented. What's missing is a fix that doesn't feel medical, disposable, or invasive.
Tape works by force — sealing your lips closed regardless of whether your nose is actually open. Wakes you up if you have a cold. Pulls skin in the morning. Hard to share a bed without explaining.
Spring-loaded plastic, glued to the bridge of your nose each night and binned in the morning. Cheap and visible — designed for a snoring husband, not for a bedroom you actually like.
For diagnosed sleep apnoea, both are appropriate. For the millions who simply breathe shallowly through their mouth from years of habit, prescribing a machine or a scalpel is the wrong order of magnitude.
We separated the two jobs that pharmacy strips try to do with a single glued piece of plastic. The part that opens your airway is a precision-formed band you use for months. The part that sticks to your skin is a tiny, hypoallergenic tab you replace nightly — gentle on skin, gone in the morning. They connect magnetically.
Medical-grade silicone over a flexible nitinol spine. Light enough that you forget it's there, strong enough to hold a calibrated lift across the nasal valve — the part of your airway that actually limits flow. One band lasts six months of nightly wear; the subscription replaces it before it tires.
The smallest, gentlest part of the system — and the only thing you throw away. A hypoallergenic medical adhesive engineered for overnight wear and peel-off-clean removal. No tug, no residue, no skin irritation after months of use.
We're not the cheapest option, and we're not the only one that works. Here's what's actually different — and what isn't — so you can decide if Aira is the right tool for your bedroom.
| Aira | Mouth tape | Pharmacy strips | Nothing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opens airway | ● Mechanically, at the nasal valve | ○ No — just closes the mouth | ● Yes, but at the bridge | ○ No |
| Feels invasive | ● No — barely noticeable by night three | ○ Yes — lips sealed shut | ○ Yes — visible plastic across the face | — |
| Per-night cost (year 1) | ~$0.32 with subscription | ~$0.20 | ~$0.55 | $0 |
| Single-use waste | ● Tab only (paper-backed) | ○ Tape strip nightly | ○ Full plastic strip nightly | None |
| Works with a head cold | ● Yes — mouth still functions | ○ No — wakes you up | ● Partially | — |
A summary, not a sales pitch. Citations on request — we link the underlying peer-reviewed studies in the science section of the home page.
Increase in dental caries among habitual mouth breathers compared to nasal breathers (J. Oral Health, 2019).
Average improvement in blood oxygen saturation during sleep when airway dilation is restored at the nasal valve.
Median drop in resting heart rate measured across 14-day nose-breathing protocols in trained athletes.
Of mild OSA cases that resolve completely once chronic mouth breathing is corrected (sleep clinic meta-analysis, 2022).
"I spent two years sleeping with a piece of tape on my mouth before I admitted I deserved a better object than that. Aira is the version I wanted on my bedside table — and the one I wanted to hand to my parents without explaining."
Reserve your Starter Kit now — no deposit, priority shipping at launch, and a 90-day risk-free trial. If your sleep isn't measurably better, we'll refund the kit and pay the return.