Snoring often makes for jokes in the family. It sounds funny, but there are times when things get so bad that it’s no longer a laughing matter.

One such situation concerns these buzzing sounds getting in the way of intimacy among partners.

Sharnell Muir, a North Vancouver dentist, knows a lot about these types of cases. Her practice focuses on dental sleep medicine, which deals with the use of custom-made oral appliances or mouthpieces to manage breathing problems when a person is asleep.

“At least half of the snorers that come to me are no longer able to sleep in the same room as their bed partner,” Muir related in a phone interview with the Georgia Straight. “And that’s hard on a relationship.”

According to Muir, it’s not just men who seek her help.

“I would say before menopause, I probably see three men to every one woman,” she said. “But after menopause, it’s almost one to one. Women start snoring a lot more after menopause.”

Muir opened her Sleep Better Live Better clinic in North Vancouver in 2013. Before that, she had been practising in the field of dental sleep medicine for about a decade.

“I’ve always been fascinated by it, even when I was in dental school,” said the UBC-trained dentist. “I thought it was very fascinating that we could help patients’ overall health and quality of life…with oral appliances.”

Not everyone snores. According to Muir, it is estimated that up to 50 percent of men and 30 percent of women snore.

“Some people are very quiet snorers,” she said. “Some people say, ‘Oh, I don’t snore. I only purr.’ ”

Muir does not know of a Canadian study on how snoring affects relationships, but she cited a survey done for the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine in 2015.

The resulting report, dubbed the Spousal Support Snories Survey, reveals that 39 percent of the respondents consider snoring by the opposite sex to be a turnoff. Forty-seven percent indicated a contrary opinion, 10 percent said it doesn’t really matter whether the other person snores or not, and the remainder either didn’t know or refused to answer.

Most of the respondents (83 percent) reported that their bed partner snored. Based on the responses, 43 percent expressed concern about the other person’s health; 35 percent indicated difficulty sleeping; 26 percent said they got either annoyed or angry; and 21 percent reported that they either wanted to sleep or were already sleeping in another room.

The respondents were also asked if snoring ever had a negative impact on their romantic relationships or marriage. Nine percent answered in the affirmative.

Snoring sounds are produced when a sleeping person’s airway narrows, causing soft tissues to vibrate with breathing.

There are a number of things that people can do on their own to manage their snoring.

Muir explained: “Some people lose some weight. That can help reduce snoring. They’ll not drink in the evening, because alcohol being a muscle relaxant, you can snore more. Some people will try sleeping on their side rather than their back, and they might snore less that way.

Some people will manage their allergies or keep their nose clearer, so they can breathe without creating air turbulence. And then [for] some people…stopping smoking can help as well. And elevating the head of the bed can help as well.”

If these don’t help enough, then the oral appliance is an option, Muir said.

Snoring may also be an indicator of a disorder called sleep apnea, which causes a person to have repeated stoppages in breathing and can increase chances of heart failure, stroke, and diabetes, among other outcomes. Muir also treats sleep apnea with oral appliances.

According to Muir, snoring can occur all by itself, independent of sleep apnea, adding that this is a reason why it used to be called “benign snoring”. However, Muir said that evidence has come out suggesting that snoring isn’t as benign as was previously thought.

She cited a 2013 study by the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit in which researchers found out that snoring may put someone at a greater risk of having a thickening or abnormalities in their carotid artery system, compared to those who are overweight, smokers, and those with high cholesterol.

Carotid arteries supply blood to the brain, and a hardening of these vessels is a precursor to vascular diseases.

“We now refer to it as primary snoring rather than benign snoring,” Muir said.

Muir noted that the current guidelines produced by a joint task force of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine recommend that sleep physicians prescribe oral appliances for adult patients requesting treatment of primary snoring, rather than no therapy at all.

According to Muir, a lot of people mistakenly think that snoring is normal because it’s common.

“It should be managed for the overall health and happiness of the house,” Muir said.