Oral screen, mouth screen or neuromuscular training device?

An oral screen is a device with the purpose of strengthening the lips.

In the early research, it often says “oral screen” or “mouth screen” instead of the product name IQoro*. This is because it is good practice in the research world not to advertise specific brands, even in cases where a specific brand has been used in the studies.

Normally, one should still state the product name in the study’s method description. This is so that other researchers can conduct similar or follow-up research. But in the earliest research on IQoro, before 2016, it was not allowed to write out the product’s name.

The reason for this is that IQoro had not yet secured its patent and design protection so, when these earlier studies were carried out, the name was still confidential and hence neither name nor image of the product were shown. Those studies therefore only state “oral screen” (“munskärm” in Swedish) in the method description, even though the product used was an IQoro**.

This is why many who have read the research still call IQoro an oral screen today.

*Terms such as IQoro screen (IQS) training, IQoro neuromuscular training (IQNT), or oral neuromuscular training also occur in the research.
**Since 2015, IQoro is used as a possible search term on, for example, PubMed.gov.

“Pharynx trainer” could be an alternative word to explain IQoro.

Training with IQoro strengthens musculature in the pharynx which, when weakened, can lead to snoring, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) or difficulty in swallowing. However, what this description misses, is that IQoro is able to reach and train many more muscles than the once in the pharynx.

The entire muscle chain: from the face, mouth, throat, and esophagus down to the diaphragm and stomach is getting stronger when using IQoro. That is why we are not normally using this term when we’re talking about IQoro.

A “mouth weight” or an “oral dumbbell” is a way of describing what IQoro does by explaining that it works a bit like lifting weights (dumbbells) but with the muscles in the mouth instead of the muscles in the arms. This is a relatively good, but very simplified explanation of what IQoro is.

A neuromuscular training device, or a neuromuscular treatment, are the terms we most often use to explain what IQoro is and what it does.

More than an oral screen

IQoro has a much greater effect on the body than an oral screen. An oral screen can be very good for increasing lip strength. However, if you want to reach muscles further down in the body – in the oral cavity, throat, esophagus, diaphragm, and stomach – you need to stimulate and activate nerves to and from the brain to tell these muscles to start working.

This is what studies have shown IQoro can do. And that is why there is a difference between neuromuscular training with IQoro and treatment with other types of mouthpieces.

• All scientific studies on IQoro