An Awful Experience... Just Got Back From The Dentist

Wow...
Just got back from the dentist...I needed extensive work done (after avoiding the dentist for YEARS) and have been looking for a kind understanding dentist which I finally found....so turn up today for some of the work to be completed on the upper left....I was in two minds whether to plug or not due to the occlusion effect...but decided to plug and go for it...I was petrified but in the back of my mind I had a small glimmer of hope that maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I was expecting and and that maybe i'd get through and even come home victorious with a new lease of life after facing my fears.......no

So the dentists started drilling and OH MY F_ING GOD IT WAS SO LOUD....like seriously I know I have noise phobia but this was LOUD...it sounded like 120db inside my ear from the bone conduction....I lasted a couple of bursts of about 5 seconds before I had to ask her to stop...she said she would try and work on a tooth further away from the ear which she did...it was marginally quieter but still ridiculously loud. In the end I let her finish the drilling on the tooth furthest away from my ear ...this was a small cavity and the one that needed the least drilling...she finished drilling it and then asked if she could try again on the back upper left tooth..I said I wanted to try with the earplugs out as the occlusion was just so loud....so I unplugged...then the dental nurse approaches my ear with the suction thing which without ear plugs was just too much for me ......it was at this stage the dentist refused to continue as she said she couldn't do her work properly and she didn't think it was fair on me...I was shaking and crying in the chair like a child. I just need to express again OMG IT WAS SO SO SO LOUD. The dentists said she has hardly scratched the surface with the amount of drilling that needs to be done on the other teeth..she said what she drilled was barely 2mm and that the amount off drilling need is huge because the cavity/old filling is so big (i have huge old fillings that are defective with decay underneath them) how the fuck will I ever managed to get this sorted out...maybe i will just have to be in agony with tooth pain forever...tbh that is preferable over any T increase.

So now I sit here, petrified about my noise exposure I have just had and what it will do to my ears...I guess the next few days will tell...but if I survive that without an increase then i think it is fair to say noise exposure has no effect on t whatsoever, and with one tooth complete and 6 left to go...I also have a hole now on the back left were she started drilling but couldn't finish....what a big old mess I am in.

To anyone out there that has had a dental drilling with plugs in and got through it I absolutely salute you as it was by FAR the loudest thing I have experienced in 11 years of having t.

I am so upset, so so so upset. i have job interviews tomorrow and a college exam and some how i will have to try and pull myself together to get through them. And I am SO sorry if this scares anyone as it is not my intention

 

Have you thought about having your decayed teeth extracted? They don't need to drill then.

Never use earplugs at the dentist, the occlusion effect will kill you.

 

@Carm

I am now in complete agreement....NEVER use plugs at the dentist...jesus christ

I think extraction may be the only way forward to be honest...but that will mean losing nearly all of my upper and lower back teeth which at 32 isn't really ideal...but your right, that may well be the better/only option.

 

Hi Rhea how are you?
No Rhea it is not a good solution as you will not be able to ear properly after that ever again and that will be a problem and dentures are not a good substitute and horrible things to try to get used to ...........sorry but getting the teeth fixed maybe the best thing to do

 

Hi Amanda....I am in a bad way....I literally feel in shock...I know how pathetic that sounds but that is honestly how I feel. Still cannot believe how loud that bone conduction noise was with the plugs in...so wish I had never plugged. Just don't know what to do with myself right now apart from sit in bed and cry at the horror I have just expereinced and worry like hell about how my ears are going to react in the coming hours/days etc

 

There are implants, you know. They can be better than your own teeth. They are costly but worth it if you get a tooth extracted.

 

Rhea I am so sorry to hear all this ...........look I think that you would be fine.......what you need to do is make the appointments with the dentist. Ask her to make many appointments for you so u can have the work done over a longer period of time............then dont plug but ask her to stop often for you so when you raise your hand as a signal to stop for example.
Then you get a few second break and the she starts again.
Then you go for multiple appts to get the work done slowly.
I dont think that you will have a problem with your T like this and you will get the work done and keep your teeth.
Most of this is probably the fear rather than the actual being a problem.
Hope this helps in some way................

 

@Rhea

Hi,

You could consider using large ear defenders as an alternative, this should significantly reduce the occlusion effect you experienced at the dentist.

In the meantime, try swilling your mouth out for a few minutes each day with warm salty water to help prevent any infection from growing in the exposed dentine.

 

Very expensive and some people get problems with them too and they are not accepted by the jaw and then get rejection problems and infections. Some people have no problems at all but in UK it is very very expensive and Rhea needs more than one done.
Perhaps if she maxs out her VISA card and then pays it off slowly she may be able to get some done but she will have a big bill. She is far better to try to get her own teeth fixed as there is nothing better than own teeth........

 

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience! What you need to do is work on desensitizing your hearing. I think everyone with T has at some point shut their ears away and kept ANY noise from them, at lot of people still do, what this does is cause your tolerance for sounds to lower and lower and lower. At my worst I couldn't be around my son when crying, I had issues putting away dishes, the idea of a drill at a dentist? yeah forget about it.

After forcing myself to expose myself to noises I knew were safe but still loud, I was able to raise the level of sounds I was around. I can now change my son without wearing ear plugs, how funny/weird does that sound?

Once you are able to increase your tolerance to sound you should be able to deal with a dentist at least if they do short blast at a time.

I'd spend a month or two trying to raise your sound tolerance before considering remove teeth that can be fixed.

 

Not sure how that would work Carm as implants require screwing into the actual jaw bone as I understand it....now THAT would be a lot of drilling noise!

 

Please get your facts straight.

These days dental implants are tolerated exceptionally well--the rejection rate is much less than 1%.

Implants cost £2,000 - £4,000.

If she needs 7, it would be less than £28,000.

You think putting £14,000 - £28,000 to your teeth isn't worth it?

Teeth are important.

Get a job if you cannot afford it.

 

Thank, that's a really helpful message and I completely agree that I need to raise my sound tolerance levels as have spent much of the last 2 years plugged in every situation apart form being alone in my own home. I will take your advice onboard and give it a go...anyway, if I don't get an increase from this I will be convinced my ears must be invincible so noise worry should just diminish anyway lol.....I highly doubt my T won't increase because DAMN that was so loud.....

NOTE TO ALL = PLUGS + DENTIST DRILL ON TOOTH = THOROUGHLY BAD IDEA

 

Hi Rhea,

I'm so sorry you had such a traumatic experience, but please, please consider not having so many of your teeth removed. That is a very permanent action and I really believe you can get through the drilling.

Have you considered talking to a psychiatrist and getting some kind of calming drug to take prior to your appointment or having them give you "laughing gas?" Those things REALLY help if you are a nervous patient and I know the dentist drill seems unbearably loud, especially if you're terrified and your brain is actively looking at the noise as a threat. Additionally it seems like you've been terrified of the dentist in general for a long time. If you have (I don't know if you do) have hyperacusis as well, then all of that together is an enormous amount for you and your poor brain to overcome on your first visit to the dentist in years. I think it's completely reasonable that you'd want something to help calm you. I would look into that.

I say this mainly because anxiety can be a killer with T. Dentist drills are loud, but not louder than 92db (this is too loud for a long period, but spurts of 5 seconds should be okay.) Perhaps with ear plugs they're too much, but without, I think your ears should be more than fine for just the short span you need to endure the drilling to get your teeth in order. You could also try bose noise cancelling headphones, those would let sound in (no occlusion), but also cut out some of the annoying frequencies.

I wish you good luck Rhea, just some other options to consider.

 

thank you, all excellent advice...think next step may be to try again but with the noise cancelling headphones. I do have noise phobia but I am no wimp and I can endure things when I know it is necessary but seriously...I cannot tell you enough how loud it was with the plugs in. So yes noise cancelling headphones sound like a brilliant idea as should get some protection and also avoid to much occlusion effect, thank you x

 

"... if I don't get an increase from this I will be convinced my ears must be invincible so noise worry should just diminish anyway lol.....I highly doubt my T won't increase because DAMN that was so loud....."

Hi Rhea, don't convince yourself that it will get louder - that's only going to put your brain on alert for looking for it and the anxiety may make it seem louder which will make you more anxious for your next dentist visit. It probably will not get louder. Even if it was loud, it sounds like you had mere second of exposure. If you've been wearing earplugs everywhere except your home, then you probably have some degree of hyperacusis. While the drill probably seemed like it was 120 db, it was not. Try to stay calm, you'll probably be just fine

 

Exposing yourself to sounds will help, understanding that the sounds you are being exposed to WILL NOT hurt your hearing is key, if you expose yourself to 90db of sound and mentally freak out because what if what if what if... you'll never get past it and it will also most likely cause your T to spike due to stress and the worry of new damage.

being around 85-90db of sound for a hour a day will not hurt you. hearing a quick 100-110db sound will not hurt you. The key is extended exposure to sounds that will hurt you, or a VERY loud sound like a gun shot near your ear or jet engine... talking 150db+

The biggest thing is the reaction, if a plate smacked into another plate I would cringe and listen for a temp T spike and get worried about what damage it could have caused. Yeah... really bad thing to do. I'm guilty of it many times before I got over it.

 

If you read my post I said that some people have problems and some not.
Plus the prices you have quoted are probably accurate and show they are expensive.
Your assumption that someone should just get a job to pay for this shows your lack of understanding on this...maybe the person cant work due to T or maybe the person cant find a job or maybe the job wont pay enough or maybe the person is working and there is no spare money after the salary is used on every day living like bills and mortgage...........I never said it was worth it or not for the money. i said that it is better to try to keep ones own teeth as being better.

And this thread is about helping Rhea and not about scoring who is right or wrong or whether she should or should not be able to pay 28000 GBPounds for implants............only she can know the answer to that but if she can keep her own teeth then that is infinitely better would you not agree?

 

When I was at my peak, there's no way in hell that would work for me, the issue is tooth to bone, it will not go well with any type of headphones, even noise cancellation or plugs IMO.

Try clapping your hands indoors, if you can't do that without holding back, you need more time to work on it. Going back and tapping out right away will just cost you money, a sense of failure and drive home the point that you CANNOT DO IT. which will make everything worse for your T.

Do you have a way of listening to music on speakers? Document at what volume it starts to bother you, and slowly turn it up until you cannot bare it anymore and document that number. Turn it down to a volume that is just below the bothering level but still ok for you, then start a log with the volume level and everyday increase it by 1.

If worried download one of the many DB readers that can be found on a phone, while they are not super accurate they can give you an idea of how loud your music is or anything else in the world. Try to fix this problem, it can help reduce T due to reduced stress and give you a MUCH BETTER life without living with constant fear of whats around you.

Plugs are must for anyone with T, I carry them on me 24/7 however only use them if you have to. Maybe all your friends last minute want to go to a bar with music or a club... At work, someone is working with powertools to repair something.... Trick to dealing with this is knowing what most likely can and cant damage you. Dentist drill for example can hurt your hearing, no doubt! However it would take pretty long exposure to that sound for it to cause any damage. 20-30 seconds most likely wont do anything other then freak you out which causes a massive chain reaction to take place.

 

I have to go to the dentist next week, I'm worried. I have really bad H so Im not sure how it's going to turn out. I have had major problems with the occlussion effect in the past when it has come to other activities, I would never try plugs at the dentist. I'm not sure what I will do but the longer I wait the worse this is going to get so I better get going. I have an appointment on Monday, I know I have cavities, I have pain plus I haven't looked after my teeth in the 16 months since onset of T.

I would say if you don't have a spike directly after, you are good. Maybe no spike will give you the confidence you need to go back, hope so. Good luck.

 

You make complete sense. I will try my very hardest to change and start living in the way you describe, and in fact I had already made that decision a few weeks back and was starting to make some progress....this has obviously thrown me off course some what....back back on the horse and try again I guess. Just need a few days to calm down from this and pray no hideous increase will appear :|

 

Thanks Tellis and so sorry you have to go through this too...but you are right you should do it now before it gets really bad and you have deep cavities and need multiple fillings..avoiding the dentists has done me no good, wish I had gone sooner. I have H too and noise phobia the lot...hence why I choose to plug even knowing the risk of the occlusion effect. I can only advise you not to plug based on my experience, I am sure the drill would have likely sounded half as loud without the plugs in....but I know with H not plugging is an issue to. Noise cancelling headphones or muff seriously seem like the best bet, that's what I will do next time if I can pluck up the courage to ever go back :|

hugs to you and anyone who has to go through this...xxx

 

Thanks Rhea. Yeah the noise canceling headphones might work to a certain degree. If you are feeding sound into the ear (through headphones) it would make sense that some of the bone conducted noise will be cancelled out as it escapes the ear canal and before it has a chance to bounce back to the ear. I would say that muffs will give you a similar issue with the occlussion effect unless you can port them somehow. The noise needs to be deadened, esscape, or canceled. Anyway, I will let you know if I find something that works. Take care.

 

For anyone thinking about plugging at the dentist. Next time you are eating make note of how loud your chewing is. Next. Plug your ears and chew, make note of how loud it is.

Or try it now by simply letting your teeth come together. With and without ears plugged.

Now think of a drill!

 

Jeffie ....yeah, that isn't helping me right now lol

ffs I am such an idiot why did I plug!

 

Plugging did not make it louder. It made you precive it as louder.

Everyone on here most likely has a horror story or something they did that they regretted alright away. It's all good.

 

it is the height of arrogance and privilege to assume that someone can and should spend 30k on their teeth.

 

It is actually louder. It's called the occlussion effect.

 

I stand corrected.

 

Rhea

I'm sorry that you had to go through this hassle. I agree with Jeffie7 I don't think that plugging made the sound any louder at all. It just made you more aware of it.

This is an interesting story, Awhile back I used to take so good care of my teeth until my tinnitus got bad. I used to go for cleanings ever 6 months. Even when the ultrasonic cleaning tool got to be too loud, I had them clean them by hand with some kind of tool like a knife. I think it was called "Deep scaling" It took a lot longer but it worked. Later on when I needed a couple of teeth filled I was at my office talking to customer of mine ( who was a dentist, he was about 90 years old and was semi retired ) I told him about my problem with having tinnitus he had me come to his office. We tried to drill and I had him stop right away. Then he had an idea. He went to his waiting room, where he had some old dentist equipment in some glass showcases. He had a very old drilling machine from I think about the late 1800's or early 1900's, it was LOL,,, and he brought that into the room I was in and said "let's see if this old thing still works I haven't used it for a many ears". So he drilled with it, this machine works like the old sewing machines mom had, By foot pumping action. Its a very very slow process but it worked, but took forever. Just about no noise at all. I know it was crazy but it worked it did not mess with my tinnitus. Unfortunately the old dentist died a couple of years later so that was unavailable to me later. I'm sure that most of the dentist today would even know what that machine even was, let alone how to use it LOL. Some times the old way is the best.


I just thought it was an interesting story.


Rhea, have you concidered laser drilling, I think I remember reading something about it few years ago. I just found this about it.


http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/laser-use-dentistry


Rhea You hang in there, You will get this straightened out




Louie
Quietatnight