Dental Work (Including Drilling) & Tinnitus — Questions and Experiences

• Ask questions about dental procedures and tinnitus in this thread.
• Please share your own experiences with dental work as well.

I went to the dentist yesterday for my last tightening of my dental braces. I asked the dentist to clean manually and he did, but he had to use a sonic drill (stone) to clean the edges...

It was like less than 10 minutes and I asked him to have the 5 second drilling with 10 second pauses, but there was like 2 times that it was so piercing...

Having a spike right now going 1 1/12 days... Hope it goes down soon...

Happy Holidays to everyone here in TT!!

Peter

 

Hi all,

This thread is mainly for people with damaged hearing via meds, infection, or acoustic trauma.

If you fall into these categories (I fall into all three), how do you handle a visit to the dentist for a filling or a cleaning? I am paranoid about letting a dentist drill on me after I had my teeth cleaned ultrasonically (the sound waves damaged my hearing to the point I can no longer use my Water Pik at home due to vibrations that travel up to the inner ear).

 

I'm afraid I'll have to opt for an extraction instead of a filling.

To beat it all, I have a three tooth bridge to care for too.

 

I am also afraid of the dentist now. My T is from acoustic trauma and I can no longer us my ultrasonic tooth brush. I even stopped using my electric shaver due to vibrations. I had a dentist appointment yesterday and canceled due to I stayed home from work yesterday because my T. My appointment is just for a cleaning, but still nervous about going.

 

Ahhh! Everyone's one nightmare...the dentist and the drill....my story, when I got T I am a 1/2 year into my braces, so I have to see the dentist every 3 weeks for tightening and cleaning, I wear foam plugs then Ear muffs as well, (talk about overkill) but the sound coming in my ears is protected so I just have to deal with the bone conduction sound. Every visit may spike my T or not (thinking about it now, my anxiety must have triggered my spikes) but it ALWAYS goes back down to baseline in a day or two!

TIPS:
1. Wear plugs, and try not to think about it...coordinate with your Dentist, tell him/her about your T, ask your dentist to drill ten second on, then stop for another 10 seconds then back again.

In my case, if my T seemed higher after, good news is, it ALWAYS goes back down to baseline after!

 

Hey all:
So I have been putting this off since I first got my tinnitus this summer... but I must go to the dentist and get a crown. And I really can't put it off any longer, or I will have an even bigger mess on my hands. So:

Have any of you had dental work, like crowns or fillings or root canals? How did it affect your T? Did you try listening to white noise on headphones while the dentist worked away? Any advice?

My plan, for now, is to make myself a little groggy with meds, and have my husband escort me to the appointment so I won't need to drive. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

I got a root canal recently, and I'm going to get an implant in 3 months. So far, no change. I took antibiotics for 2,5 days, and NSAIDs for a day. I didn't wear any protection. I have had T in both ears for 4 years now.

 

i had fillings put in, have not notice a change in my T.. you could try wearing ear plugs to block the sound of the drill ....

 

I in the middle of dental work and put in on hold too. I do put ear plugs in.

 

Went to the dentist the other day for a general check-up. I don't think it has effected mine, and if so, only temporarily. I did find the cleaning drill thing she used made a rather irritating high-pitched noise while it was in use, but that was probably just me, I think I'm sensitive to things at a similar frequency to my T.

 

Thanks all, your reassurances are very comforting. Appreciate you sharing. Will schedule my appointment today.

 

my crown work almost sent me to my grave - my tinnitus converted from severe to tinnitus from hell, i thought i was going to commit suicide. google search tinnitus dental crown, ATA will show up - they say to just use few seconds of drill, several silence etc., i would never get mine done again, extactions only.

 

Hi Lady Di. Much the same as others on the thread had a tooth taken out about 3 weeks ago was a bit apprehensive but I can say no increase in the T. Now on the plus side though as the anaesthetic started to work my T went completely silent this lasted for about an hour and a half , so next time I need a break from the noise I'll get myself down the dentist for a shot anaesthetic .

Good Luck

Ray

 

I might need a root canal. Has anybody of you had one after getting Tinnitus and can tell me how much actual drilling time will be involved? I had a few regular fillings after developing Tinnitus and I was ok because the drilling doesn't go on for to long... but what about root canals? as I heard they use little drilling devices to shape the canals... is it bad for us T sufferers? Help!

 

Please don't worry about dental work because it is the worry that causes an increase in volume or perception of volume not the work itself. A couple of years ago I decided to have all my mercury fillings removed as I was having all sorts of physical aches and pains so I had probably 8 fillings redone over a period of a few months. At first I was very worried and took a walkman in with me with relaxing music on but if I'm honest, the sound was not that loud and if it was, most dentists would have tinnitus. After having the poison (mercury, which is not even legal in quite a few countries) removed from my mouth I felt so much better physically and the aches and pains I'd had for more than 20 years just disappeared so I find it hard to look on dental work as a bad thing! Since getting t I'd been terrified of having any dental work but after the first visit I realized the anxiety about having the treatment was far worse than the treatment and it was no more bothersome than going to the post office so it was great in a way that it helped me overcome a fear I'd had for some time. The only thing I would recommend is that you ask for anaesthetic without adrenaline. Some dentists use adrenaline free ones anyway, but if it was used, you would feel anxious afterwards and focus on the t more which is not a good idea. Good luck with it al.....you'll be OK.

 

Related to your procedure Seal, I had that one and others and had no measurable effect.

I'm interested in the subject because I'm getting a dental implant in two days. It will take an hour I'm told. I'm in for a trip!. What I read about on the web is that drilling is between 90 and 100db, and takes its toll on dentists hearing over time. For patients, the noise go through the bone, so earplugs help only a little. There is a "high speed drilling" thingy that seems to be more noisy than the normal ones. The effect of Tinnitus after a dental drill seems to be related to damage to the nerves of the tooth, that somehow cause a diminishing effect in the conduction of the electric signal of the ears. Maybe it's related to how people is wired, some can modulate their tinnitus with their jaw, and others can't. I have bruxism but so far no measurable effect on my T. It's more like the opposite, bruxism started as a mind reaction to the T while sleeping. I'll do some more reading about the subject.

 

Thanks to you two for your help and support! It means a lot to me... I'll see the dentist next week and keep you updated if I need a root canal.

 

Hi LadyDi, I had a similar experience, dentist had to do three fillings, one was quite deep. I did not know what to expect, I thought maybe all the vibration might shake something and then the T would be gone

Turned out to be uneventful, sat there for around 45 minutes while he drilled away and that was it, no change in T whatsoever.

You have a good plan, stick to it and you will be fine, maybe a little sore though.

 

I had crown x 6 several years ago with no problem. In Sept I went for 2 more crowns and that almost sent me into a pine box. I now take 2 more meds than before, and it has taken 3 1/2 months for the spike to settle down to something reasonable. Any more dental work and I will just request extraction - it was almost game over for me, I thought I was going to have to quit my job, and my wife would soon be a widow. fortunately my doctor prescribed lyrica and imovane to tide me over, and I have been constantly listening to quiet music to try to deal with the tinnitus.

 

aaah! you've all scared the crap out of me! haha, sigh

 

I don't see how extraction is a solution because a pulled tooth has to be replaced either by an implant or a bridge. So you can't avoid dental work through just pulling the tooth. Otherwise the bone and gums will grow back and the other teeth will loose their position... But as a doctor yourself maybe you can explain? Besides if you only have a small cavity I don't think any dentist would pull it instead of filling it.
Was it extremely loud to get the crown or why did your T become louder?

 

Has anyone had dental work (cavities filled, root canals, crowns) and their T spike or not spike? I need to get some work done and I'm terrified of an increase in my T. I use an electric toothbrush and it doesn't bother me but if I put earplugs in the noise is really loud in my head...which blows my theory of using earplugs at the dentist. Would love some thoughts on dental visits.

 

Depends on how your tinnitus started. If your ears have suffered from acoustic trauma, then yes, it's possible that ultrasonic sound waves from the drill can cause further damage to your hearing. Wearing ear muffs may help some, but the real problem lies with bone-conducted sound waves.

On the other hand, if your tinnitus started from your brain, I seriously doubt a dentist's drill will cause you any harm.

 

The length of exposure to those noises shouldn't be harmful. When in doubt, ask the dentist. I'm sure you're not the only one who's annoyed by those drills.

 

I want to go see a Dentist, because I think I have some cavities that need to be filled.

Will going to get dental work done have a chance of increasing T?

 

Wear ear plugs and don't worry!