A tongue grasping and restraining device holds the tongue securely during sleep in order to minimize the risk of the tongue slipping back and blocking the throat. Plural tongue gripping projections are coupled to upper and lower supports. One or more of the upper and lower supports are biased together into a tongue engaging position. A tongue depressor can extend rearwardly and downwardly from the upper support to depress the users tongue to further open the users airway. The position of the tongue depressor can be adjustable. The upper support is coupled to the users upper jaw, for example, to a denture, dental appliance or other form of an upper jaw coupler and can be pivoted thereto. The lower support can be hinged to, fixed to, or otherwise joined to a lower jaw coupler. A tube and rod mechanism can couple the jaw couplers together.
