Dental Hygienist's Ultrasonic Tool Made My Tinnitus Much Worse and Destroyed All Progress

Firstly, hello, everyone. I have been lurking occasionally on the forums. I got tinnitus about 15 years ago.

Twelve days ago, I had a dental hygienist use an ultrasonic tool on me, and the next day, I had a level 8-9 tinnitus along with new tones and hyperacusis.

I was struggling last night. I called my GP. He asked me to hold my nose and blow to pop my ears. Nothing happened. He suggested Sudafed. Thirty minutes later, my head started filling with pressure, and it was like this for six hours. I made a trip to the A&E Minor Injuries Unit to get checked. The doctor said my ear looks fine, and when I have a proper GP appointment next week, I can get referred to ENT.

My mental health is low. I have lots of new tinnitus tones. My tinnitus used to be at a level of 3-4; now it's a constant 8+.

I have some questions:

• Has anyone recovered from a tinnitus spike caused by ultrasonic dental work?
• Should I take steroids, or is it now too late?
• How can I start to deal with this?

 

I'm so sorry. But I gotta be frank—you dropped the ball. With tinnitus for 15 years and awareness of this forum, you had all the opportunity to learn about the dangers of ultrasonic teeth cleaning. Granted, many of us here, including myself, dropped the ball one way or another.

Spikes may go down, so give it time. Steroids are very risky. Good luck.

 

Tinnitus Talk is a support forum. "You dropped the ball" is not support.

If you can, try to show the same kindness, love, and patience that's been shown to you, brother.

We are both fathers and have lots of experience with support and compassion.

Come on, brother, healing is not only physical; it's an all-encompassing journey that involves the heart and spirit. That's a fact.

 

The vibrations might have stirred up your already damaged nerves. I'm unsure if steroids will help. You could consult an ENT if you want to be sure.

Your best bet is to protect your ears and wait it out. You could try taking some vitamins that are good for your ears, but those may not help much or at all. I've heard of long-lasting spikes. It's best to try to stay as calm as you can and nurture your ears.

 

Emotional support is super important, and I appreciate it from everyone here, including yourself, Daniel. I really do!

But my point to the OP was, however harsh it may have sounded, to do more reading and take more precautions. There is nothing more important than preventing further damage. You may end up at a point where no amount of emotional support will help you. Sorry.

Most of my spikes reversed, though not 100%. My tinnitus is worse than it was a year ago, shortly after onset, on average. My ability to deal with it is better, though I am constantly "habituating," and it seems it is a never-ending chase. My tinnitus is very unstable, so that does not help the process.

Unfortunately, short of a breakthrough cure or a miracle self-healing, I think this is a one-way street - street towards worsening. Will I be able to keep up with it? I don't know, only to a point maybe. I am sorry, but I think there has been too much sugarcoating of this condition, including on this forum, and sometimes not enough warnings about how bad it can get. This is a relentless, progressive neurological damage for many. And it can reach limits beyond anyone's ability to live with it.

To end this on a positive note - there is a great chance your spike will revert, if not 100%, then 90%, @MissingSilence1. There are many more longer-term, more severe combatants of this condition that hopefully will chime in with this reassurance.

 

Yeah, I personally wouldn’t go around victim-blaming people when their tinnitus worsens, especially on a support forum, no less. You can’t honestly fault them for it either because it’s so easy to let your guard down with a tricky condition like tinnitus.

I think I prefer empathy too, DL.

 

There should be warnings at the dental surgery about this. I forgot about my tinnitus many years ago and didn't research anything.

My appointment was at 7 am, and she just started using the tool. So maybe it is my fault, but now I am literally screwed!

Maybe it's too late for steroids. I can't continue with this, though. For ten days, I have thought about ending my life every day.

I have also noticed that I have lost nearly all my high-end frequencies above 11 kHz. Six months ago, I could hear in that range easily.

 

Sorry if my comment sounded harsh. 15 months since my acoustic trauma, I am still unbelievably angry at how little awareness of this condition is - and of the things that can cause it or make it worse. The information is there, but one needs to look for it:

→ Tinnitus following treatment with ultrasonic scaler

For you, it has been two weeks. I guess you could try intratympanic steroids, but these are risky, too. But if it is really, really bad, the risks can be worth it. But you need to run to ENT right now. It is already late.

Question: Was this the first time you had ultrasonic cleaning done over the 15 years you had tinnitus? Or have you had it done before, and nothing happened?

Good luck again.

 

Yeah - there seems to be low awareness even in medical institutions and hearing test places.

So, right now, I am unable to get a GP appointment in the UK until Wednesday, when I hope to be referred to an ENT. I can ask them about steroids; maybe I should bring some studies to them. I need to be clear about the whole situation.

I had tinnitus from a loud gig many years ago. However, I also had dental work and teeth extractions as a child, and I think there is a link between this and the jaw. Either way, I do not know the real cause.

I have been dealing with it for years and protect my hearing everywhere.

It felt like the dentist went through the back door route and straight to my frigging ear canal via my mouth.

Maybe I should try to get a private GP and beg them to refer me to an ENT specialist.

Yes, steroids seem to have mixed results. I was on Prednisone for Bell’s Palsy last year, and it was a super high dose. I gained about three stone in weight after, and it raised my cortisol.

So right now, on a Sunday, I'm here with a new rattlesnake tone. My tinnitus was unilateral (on one side before) but is on both now.

I also want to sue the manufacturers of these torture devices.

 

We have many UK members, and the common theme is that the medical care sucks there (it sucks everywhere, just seems a little more in the UK), and you will wait forever for an ENT visit, at which point he can do nothing for you (except harm you).

Intratympanic steroids should be administered right away, within 24-48 hours. They can do something for up to a month, but they are considered salvage therapy. My hearing was dying for at least a month; I wish I knew/could get the injections promptly.

If you could sue the ultrasonic device manufacturer, that would be fantastic. You were not warned about the risk. It is not reasonable to expect that a routine dental procedure can permanently disable you and destroy the quality of your life (I hope not, but that's the real possibility now). I wonder how many people would opt for ultrasonic cleaning if they were asked, "Bro, there is a small risk you will be deaf and have ringing in your ears if we do this; no problem, right?".

Sue all you can. I wish I could. Unfortunately, I destroyed my hearing with a power tool, and while I did not know about the dangers of tinnitus or hyperacusis, I should have known enough that loud noise is bad for me. It was very, very bad.

 

Did you have your first teeth cleaning in 15 years? If so, next time, ask your dentist to use a hand scaler instead of an ultrasonic one, which has been used for many years.