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

I've played a couple of different instruments over the last couple of days without any problems, although I think I have to be careful with slap-style bass guitar. It's like I literally feel my ears are sensitive to these harsh transients.


I reported to my GP that it was getting a little better dealing with the T, but that I wasn't sure if the T subsided or if I'd started habituating. He said that habituation was not possible, ones perception of T could only get worse. So the T must have subsided and therefore I was to stop taking prednisolon. There wasn't any time to discuss it, so I left it at this.

The invitation for my hospital visit should've been here by now, but isn't. The GP called the hospital on the spot to make sure I'd get the invitation and get scheduled sooner than usual because of my work in music. I appreciated this very much, although I doubt if I deserve getting priority.
[Is this last sentence correct? And is this letter indeed called an 'invitation'? I'm not a native speaker and would like to improve my English. Thanks ]


Right now my T is as loud as ever and in my left ear only. I now strongly suspect it has something to do with my braces and rubber bands. First I had to wear a diagonal rubber band, pulling my jaw sideways. Weeks after that I start hearing dull clicking sounds when opening my mouth and get a type of tinnitus which behaves very differently from noise-induced T. I'm supposed to wear this rubber band for at least 3 more weeks, but I'd rather change everything back to how it was a month ago. If only to see if anything changes.

On one hand I want to rely on the advice of educated professionals. On the other hand, I think I know what's good for me and have some bad experiences with incompetent/careless doctors in the past. I'm starting to get the idea that if you're somewhat good at searching and processing information, you can quickly become be more knowledgeable on a particular subject than your local medical professional.

I want to benefit from the knowledge and experiences of the specialists, yet I don't want to be helplessly subjected to whatever specialist I'm assigned to. How do you all deal with this? When is it ok to 'overrule' your doctor?

 

Hi guys,

Tomorrow I'm having some dental work done, 3 fillings and a scale and polish with the ultrasonic cleaner tool dentists use, I read a few things about the ultrasonic cleaner being risky with tinnitus?

Has anyone had a scale and polish with the ultrasonic cleaner? Is it worth the risk?

 

So I spoke with an audiologist over the phone. We got done to where I remembered I needed tooth 13 cavity refilled. She suggested to get this done as this may be the underlying cause as I am not losing hearing. My hearing test came out fine. She said that by refilling the cavity should take care of the T and my hypersensitivity to noise. Has anyone heard of this? Please help I have an appointment on tuesday.

 

While you may not be able to avoid drilling for fillings, cleaning can definitely be done by hand instruments instead of ultrasonic.
Yes it's more time consuming for them but you can request a separate appointment for cleaning only.
I would personally avoid any unnecessary noise.

 

Thanks for your advice Valeri, it is unnecessary risk, I will only get the fillings done tomorrow.

 

No. I honestly would not know about this. I am not a doctor, but my opinion is that dental issues are only a problem in relation to tinnitus when there is long-term inflammation involved or an abnormal bite which causes trigger points to develop. I think your audiologist is guessing. That's my opinion for what it is worth.

But why not ask someone who has a long career in the ENT-field? A person such as @Dr. Charlie? He has probably seen and heard more "stories" than most people, I would imagine.

One thing I do know, however, is that I recommend earplugs for certain types of dental work. And yes, your dentist may give you a funny face, but "who cares..."

There is no such thing as a "fine hearing test" in relation to tinnitus. Standard hearing tests examine only the speech frequencies and a hearing test cannot diagnose tinnitus directly (in any event); it was not invented for that purpose. In most cases, even slight hearing loss at certain frequencies - eg. dips at 4 kHz - are speculated to be the reason behind tinnitus (= damage to the cochlea). For young-ish people, the audiogram will typically come back with a result within the normal range, and the audiologist will - incorrectly - assume that hearing loss is not the cause behind a person's tinnitus. But hearing loss is almost always the reason...

EDIT: And as I was typing my response, Markku had already answered the question.

 

But I do need the cavity refilled though haven't others gone to dentist to get their teeth cleaned or needed dental work?

As i have been feeling a but of pressure and pinching occasionally where that tooth is located

 

Find yourself a new audiologist

 

how about the anesthetic used during dental work? I am thinking if the root cause is not in some ototoxic component rather than/in addition to bite alteration and/or inflamation

 

I was watching some videos on YouTube on the the cavity filling procedure and I was suprised on how much drilling it took to do the prep, filling, then the filing down of the composite filling with more drilling, all in all its aleast 20 to 30 minutes to finish the job.

So if I'm to have 3 fillings that's going to take up to one and a half hours of on and off drilling!

Should I just get the fillings done on separate occasions? I haven't got a good feeling about this!

 

^^ Is it dentists week?

@Markku


Tomorrow I'm going to see the dentist for two little fillings, I don't have big holes in my teeth.

I read your link above. In one case they say don't protect, other cases they say do protect your ears.
The 5 secs drill/10 secs pause, I will ask for that.

Can I wear earmuffs instead of plugs? Or don't I have to protect my ears at all?

Sorry, read the whole thread and link but I'm still confused.

 

They say wearing earplugs won't protect against the bone conduction from the drilling, hence asking for the breaks in the drilling.

Wearing hearing protection will help dampen down the external high pitched whine of the drill, but pay the price with the occlusion effect because blocking the ear canals with plugs prevent the noise from the bone conduction escaping, intensifying the "internal noise" in your skull.....if that makes any sense?.. Lol.

Personally I would go with earmuffs because they cause less occlusion than earplugs while helping with the external noise.

 

Hey @mick1987, I would be safe and consider having the fillings done at separate times. That's what my dentist does. She is very sensitive to tinnitus people's needs (her office manager has severe T). I take 1800 mgs of NAC before I go, then wear noise-cancelling head phones and play calming masking music. But as @Markku said, there is only so much you can do, as the noise is being conducted through your bone structure.

My dentist also does the short drilling times/taking breaks strategy outlined above, and found at the ATA site.

If it makes anyone feel better: I just had the first half (the bad half) of a huge crown done. My dentist did so much drilling and pressing on my tooth, my jaw was sore for two weeks. But my T didn't increase at all, at least not following the procedure. It continues to go up and down, as it always has.

I also would advise not putting off necessary dental work because of T fears. Then you'll end up with an infection or something serious that will require even MORE work.

 

Mike there's a little trick to avoid a
lot of drilling to adjust the bite.
Once they put the last layer of filling material and set it by light, they can get you to bite on a little piece of plastic bag, that will shape the filling according to your bite and all they need to do is set the material and polish.
This is all providing that your dentist is willing to do it.
It can take a lot of biting on a blue paper and drilling to adjust the bite.
Just a suggestion!

 

The dentists might think I'm nuts with my earmuffs, I will explain her about my T and H though.
@mick1987 I hope you will do fine! I will give an update how it went.

 

@valeri Do you mean take some plastic, put it between upper-and under teeth so it will decrease the bone conduction volume? What do you mean with blue paper?
Sorry for my poor english.

 

In my opinion, @DutchGuy: Your dentist should be supportive and make an effort to understand what you are dealing with, as mine does. I sent her a copy of the ATA guidelines, and she was totally cool with it.

If not: time for a new dentist.

 

I read this tip: (when the dentist is not co-operative)
Just cough if she/he won't stop after 5 secs.

Well I think my dentist is a nice person too, I just will explain her.

I read the ATA guidelines, it says that many dentists get T because of working with drills, so I also will tell/warn her.
I think she is new in the practice, just saw her once before.

 

Blue paper or articulating paper is used to show the high spots on the filling.
If you remember after a filling your dentist would have asked you to bite down multiple times, left to the right and so on, and bit more drilling after each bite.
That's adjusting the bite.
But that can be avoided if they, before setting the last layer of composite (so material is still soft), get you to bite on a piece of plastic bag, or a freezer bag or whatever, can be a piece of rubbish bag!
This has got nothing to do with the protection from noise, rather less drilling therefore less noise.
Hope this is clearer

 

Thanks LadyDi, I'm glad you never had any problems with your T after all that drilling.
I think it would be best to have them done on separate visits, I think that's why I've had to wait one and a half months to have the work done because its going to be well over an hour appointment! I'll probably have to wait a lot longer again for separate visits.

I've remembered your advice before with the NAC supplements, I've got a bottle in the drawer ready for use!

Thanks for the suggestion Valeri, unfortunately me just mentioning I've got tinnitus to my dentist is a hindrance! Asking your pauses alone I'm in for trouble they are not very patient!

Thanks DutchGuy, I don't give a damn if I look stupid, embarrassment is only temporary, regret lasts a lot longer! I hope you get on OK to!

 

Just cough or sneeze after 5 secs

Sorry @valeri don't know exactly what you mean, my bad. Last time I had fillings done was years ago.
But I will ask if she can lesser the time of drilling. I don't have NAC d_mned.

 

What is NAC??

 

@kaycee http://www.amazon.com/Nac-N-Acetyl-Cysteine-600-Caps/dp/B00068GKC8

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/n-acetylcysteine-nac.395/page-7#post-69802

 

Hey @mick1987 and @DutchGuy, I think you all will be fine. Thanks for posting on this topic. Dental work is very scary when you first have T, was for me.

 

Hi guys, just an update on how I got on with the fillings today.....

As I went in to the room I asked if I could have the drilling done with 5 seconds drilling 10 seconds off etc because of my T, but my dentist said she couldn't do that because its a tricky job with the filling being on the upper side right at the back (right near my bad ear). But she said it they will take breaks now and again and could stop anytime I feel uncomfortable.

Then she numbed up the gums, while I was waiting for the dental anaesthetic to kick in I went into the dental hygienist room to have my teeth cleaned. I told her I didn't want the ultrasonic cleaner because of my T and she said that was fine, so did a manual clean instead, right at the end she asked if it was OK to use a polisher to remove some stains on the front of my teeth, she said it isn't as loud as the ultrasonic cleaner so I agreed, it was fine and for the first time in years I have white teeth!

So after waiting awhile they called me in to have the fillings, my dentist said I didn't have to have it all done today so I had 2 big fillings done, I've got to go back for a little cavity in a few weeks time.
Anyway, I used earplugs and with the high speed drill the occlusion effect was quite loud, drilled for around 20 seconds at a time with brief 5 second breaks to rest my jaw, as she moved to the low speed drill the noise inside my head was too much with all the vibration so I took my earplugs out!....and it was a lot quieter!...so for the next 30 minutes I had all the drilling done without any ear protection at all which I'm amazed I actualy did it and it wasn't even that loud...a lot easier without plugs!

It took around 30 to 40 minutes to have 2 fillings done and its now 3 hours after and fingers crossed my tinnitus is fine! hopefully I didn't jinx myself there and they is a delayed reaction but so far so good!

 

good for you mick1987
All went fine for me too. No increase in T or H. It took like 15 minutes, with short breaks in between.
I felt a little like a freak though with the earmuffs on, but no biggie.

 

Glad to hear it went well for you DutchGuy

I couldn't handle the internal noise with hearing protection, everything sounded 5 times louder, there was so much vibration noise after a couple of minutes I thought screw this and took the plugs out and all I had to deal with was the external noise but luckily I believe the drill was no more than 80 decibels, not bad at all!

 

Hey @mick1987 and @DutchGuy, thanks so much for updating us. Glad it went well! Hopefully our experiences will help calm others.
Oh, and noise-cancelling head phones really do work better than plugs for the reasons you experienced, Mick.