Dental Guide

Hello All!

I would like to ask the following questions regarding a dental visit I have due to a tooth infection, I need to take action because I have a teeth that keeps infecting every 6 months and I have had already 3 root canals on it:

1. Is lidocaine safe? I read is ototoxic but recently I discovered it is being tested for tinnitus management and many people have reported to be beneficial for their tinnitus, what do you think?

2. Tooth extractions are safe? I am considering between a tooth extraction or a new root canal, I would prefer a tooth extraction but I would like to know what have been your experiences with tinnitus.

3. Earplugs are safe at the dentist or they create an occlusion effect?

4. Amoxicillin or Cephalosporin are not invasive on tinnitus? I mention these two because they apparently are the less ototoxic and used on tooth matters.

I believe for some of us, despite tinnitus may have come with sound trauma, and specifically for the ones we have unilateral tinnitus, there is also a correlation of weak ·side" which is the side we have tinnitus. On the side I have tinnitus I have 3 root canals on one teeth that keeps infecting, I have another root canal on another teeth in the same side and also somatosensory tinnitus, so I believe there must be a connection with all, that is why going to the dentist is so challenging!!

Thank you all and regards!

 

1. Lidocaine is safe. There were experiments done with it, and in some cases the tinnitus disappeared or became very low until the lidocaine, an anesthetic, wore off.
2. Tooth extractions are safe, but you must tell the dentist that you have somatic tinnitus and when opening your mouth not to force your jaws open too much, because there were people who got somatic T and TMJ problems because of this procedure.
I would NOT chose a tooth extraction over a root canal. That would be a crime. A tooth that can be saved must be saved.

What do you plan, after a tooth extraction?

1. To remain with the gap, and do nothing about it, which would pose further problems (the other teeth will start moving towards the new space, and the opposite teeth on the opposite jaw will move, too, because nothing will push them down anymore), your chewing food will suffer on that side because all the forces will be taken by the other teeth, and you risk for those other teeth to fracture, not to mention the aesthetic problems that a missing tooth creates.

2. To fill the gap with an implant. This procedure, if you are concerned with the noises, will entail seriously drilling the jaw bone in order to put a screw there for the implant. The dentist told me that the drilling is really serious. I learned, though, that the rotation speed of those turbines, so the frequencies of the noises, are lower than usual drilling, which for me was encoiragimg news, necauee it is with the high frequencies that i have problems with.

If someone had a tooth implant after he got tinnitus, it would be helpful for us if she/he shared the story with us. How serious are those drilling noises, did the tinnitus increase afterwards?

Anyway, between a root canal and an extraction, always choose the conservative policy (keep what you can)

3. Earplugs are safe? I went to the dentist recently and the noise of the drilling really bothered me and i had no ear plugs with me to lower the noise, so i asked for some cotton balls for my ears. I had no occlusion effect and, with the cotton balls, the noise that i still heard did not cause me a spike. I also told the dentist not to drill for too long without giving my ears a break.

4. Amoxicillin or Augumentin are safe for your ears. They say that all medicines are ototoxic, more or less, but sometimes you can not go around them. If you need antibiotics, you need antibiotics and you have to take them, and those are the best choises. My tinnitus did not increase after Augumentin, a better version of Amoxicillin.

 

@Dana amazing information, thanks a lot !! Let's see if we have the input of someone with a tooth extraction. But all the information you answer is amazing, thanks a lot !

 

@Amv I received somatic tinnitus from the drilling to place stem into new bone growth for lower front implant. Problems arise when too much pressure is placed on the jaw. It's called dental whiplash. When the dentist isn't drilling or messing around in your mouth, try to close mouth a little to rest your jaw. Keep your neck relaxed and don't bend it forward. Head should align with shoulders. Ask for a small pillow to place under neck. Ask the dentist to take breaks with drilling. You should be fine since it's not a front lower implant procedure. Your chances of a problem are going to be much less. I think that Dana covered other concerns very well.

 

I can give you some information about tooth extractions. After i got tinnitus i focused on just this very disturbing heath problem, tinnitus, and neglected all the other probpems that we have to keep in check. Me, a former regular goer to the dentist, i stopped going to regular visits, and that is how i ended up having to have two (!!!) teeth extractions, those teeth could not be saved, and that was my fault, which was crass neglection.

Besides the fact that i had to open my jaws so much wider than in a root canal procedure, and asked for many breaks, and the fear that the dentist won't be able to pull it, i had no increase in tinnitus afterwards.

What i am curious about would be what some members could tell us about tooth implants, those drillings in the bone. That is what i would like to know about, to be able to make some decisions that i need to make (to go for an implant or not)

Also, make sure that you will have no fear and no pain at all times. With a simple anesthetic you will be pain free during the root canal (even during an extraction, pretty much). (The anesthetic are mandatory in these cases, anyway).

I am saying this because fear and pain may cause the tiny artery that feeds the ear with blood to constrict, to contract, and, remained without enough blood supply, the ear may suffer damage, The constricting of this narrow artery during dental procedures that were not done properly and caused a lot of pain and fear is the explanation why some people got up from the dental chair with hearing loss, hearing loss that caused tinnitus. I know of a case whose problems stemmed from a tooth extraction, a former member of this forum, i am not talking humbug. He told me about how much pain that dentist put him through, and after that i read this explanation given by an ENT on a forum, for the people who remained with ear problems after a visit at the dentist, as this happened to many, not only our former member.

Be relaxed. Dental procedures with no pain and fear are easily possible with the anesthetics we have nowadays and dentist who is careful and has empathy.

How to avoid the somatic problems that may arise, Greg Sacramento covered this part.

 

@Greg Sacramento

So when when drilling for an implant (for a lower front tooth, i got that) the pressure on the jaw is that high? Wow! Sorry.
How do you think that could have been avoided?

 

By not having an implant in that area. Just a false tooth bonded to teeth on each side and rebonded every six months or so.

 

Lidocaine is safe and for me quite fun. When I was on Lidocaine I had Zero Tinnitus for some time after I went home.

Never, ever cover your ears at the dentist. To keep things simple, your ears also get sounds out of your mouth, plugging your ears is a definite no.

Try not to obsess too much, you'll be ok.

Best,
Zug

 

The post below, happens to be the very first post I ever made on this forum:

 

Lidocaine is listed as being ototoxic on many lists
http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf

 

@Greg Sacramento are you talking about a dental bridge? I haven't heard of this procedure the tooth is bonded and replaced without drilling the two teeth adjacent to the missing tooth?

 

@Starthrower For me I still don't have my lower implant on lower front tooth. During the first 6 months I had my old tooth bonded after removal while new bone placed material in the gum was growing. I had to use a special pointed toothbrush to keep this area clean. After six months the bonded tooth became lose. The dentist said that he could have bonded the tooth again, but the procedure to remove the old bonding material involves lots of noise and for that he didn't think that it was wise to bond again. If the dentist was willing to take breaks with his dental equipment then maybe I could had gone years by just having new bonding every six months. I'm old and I have heart disease so I would have rather gone the bonding route as long as possible. I received my somatic tinnitus from pressure and pain trauma (dental whiplash) to my lower jaw when the dentist was drilling to the new bone growth to place the lower implant stem. This whiplash caused my TMD.

 

Hello all ! So i finally visited a good dentist, he told me that after 2 root canals and costant infections, he suggests the best option to be an extraction, i really agree, because being 2 times a year with antibiotic my pose a bigger risk than having an extraction and saving all that antibiotic into my body.

Anyone with tooth extraction experience ? Can you live during some months without any implant and just 1 less tooth ? I may go into that direction.

Any experience with a tooth extraction ? Is it T safe ?

 

Unsure if an extraction is T safe. I have had four extractions, but that was a long time ago as a kid. There is a risk of dry socket with extractions, so be sure to discuss that in advance so you know the warning signs.

I do know that you cannot go multiple months or even weeks without an implant unless you have a spacer or temporary. Teeth can move or shift unless the space is held for the implant. In addition, a tooth absence can place more pressure on the remaining teeth during chewing and biting. This can lead to damage to those teeth.

 

@Tinker Bell thank you ! Maybe then a bridge is a better option than an implant for T sufferers. As extraction pose very little drilling, and I suppose bridge either.