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

[Poseidon65]

I had a single cavity drilled last Tuesday, and ever since then, my tinnitus seems to have spiked up. The spike is not beyond other spikes I've experienced in the past, but very annoying nonetheless. Very much hoping it dies down, as the sound was (IMO) nowhere near levels which should cause permanent damage.

I wore earplugs (not fully sealed ones, so no occlusion) during the procedure.

 

[PeteJ]

I had a single cavity drilled last Tuesday, and ever since then, my tinnitus seems to have spiked up. The spike is not beyond other spikes I've experienced in the past, but very annoying nonetheless. Very much hoping it dies down, as the sound was (IMO) nowhere near levels which should cause permanent damage.

I wore earplugs (not fully sealed ones, so no occlusion) during the procedure.

It shouldn't but I think one problem is the jaw/teeth are so close to our ears.

The other problem (imho) is if you have tinnitus as a result of acoustic trauma and some kind of damage in the ear (inner ear, hearing loss, nerves/hair cells, cochlea-related), the inner ears are already weakened and compromised. I think drilling in teeth affects it and causes the ears to respond - if your tinnitus is reactive, certain sounds (soundwave, impacts) lead to spikes. Just my theory. I think they are temporary spikes, though. It also probably helps to get the dentist to take breaks drilling. So, it's not continuous drilling. This is all speculation since it seems to be the overwhelming recommendation here but I find it difficult to convince dentists to take so many breaks. Ask them if they would oblige. Hold your hand up when you want a break. Also, make sure they are okay with the extra time as the breaks will probably increase your appointment time - they need to know that - if you consistently stop them from drilling momentarily.

I don't know if you can stop the occlusion effect. What do you mean by, "the earplugs weren't in, fully?"

 

[Poseidon65]

I don't know if you can stop the occlusion effect. What do you mean by, "the earplugs weren't in, fully?"

The earplugs I have accept different filters. Not all of the filters fully seal the ear opening (some of them leave a tiny opening).

 

[SoupBowl]

Anyone here who's had jaw surgery?

It's in the cards for me to treat an underbite/crossbite which I'm not sure if they contribute to my tinnitus or not (which I have always assumed to be noise induced), but opening my mouth constantly results in cracking, at times moving my jaw too much results in headaches and further pain elsewhere, so with tinnitus you can imagine, I'm in a bit of a dilemma, right now.

Leaning towards just going for it, though.

 

[Poseidon65]

I had a single cavity drilled last Tuesday, and ever since then, my tinnitus seems to have spiked up. The spike is not beyond other spikes I've experienced in the past, but very annoying nonetheless. Very much hoping it dies down, as the sound was (IMO) nowhere near levels which should cause permanent damage.

I wore earplugs (not fully sealed ones, so no occlusion) during the procedure.

Good news, it seems like the spike has gone down.

 

[K.A.]

I had a single cavity drilled last Tuesday, and ever since then, my tinnitus seems to have spiked up. The spike is not beyond other spikes I've experienced in the past, but very annoying nonetheless. Very much hoping it dies down, as the sound was (IMO) nowhere near levels which should cause permanent damage.

I wore earplugs (not fully sealed ones, so no occlusion) during the procedure.

Can you name the specific earplugs? Do you actually notice there is no occlusion effect, like no increased low frequency sounds when walking on hard surfaces, your own voice when talking, etc.?

 

[Poseidon65]

Can you name the specific earplugs? Do you actually notice there is no occlusion effect, like no increased low frequency sounds when walking on hard surfaces, your own voice when talking, etc.?

Yes, the earplugs are EarPeace, available on Amazon.

 

[Alvise]

I tried having a root canal one week ago.

The drill was too loud.

I stopped It.

4 days later I got a spike. I am still having that spike (8th day at the moment). I hope it will fade.

 

[Ross McLauchlan]

I've had pretty moderate/severe tinnitus for over five years. In that time I've largely learned to deal with the noises and pain, but I respect the condition enough to not want to worsen it. This would mean avoiding obviously loud places and even avoiding dental work for fear of drills, etc.

About 6 hours ago, I had a filling on my back left molar and some bonding work on my front tooth. I spent about a week dreading getting this work carried out and obsessed over negative outcomes. I searched Tinnitus Talk for positive stories and I was pretty miserable at the thought of increasing my tinnitus over something unavoidable.

However, the drill and vibration was pretty quiet and I've had zero spikes. It looks like modern drills are not as loud as I thought and it was only used for about 3 minutes in total. The dentist was very nice and accommodated my fears by initially drilling in short bursts, but it became apparent that this wasn't necessary. The suction thing was louder than the drill, but nothing was abrasive or felt loud.

I'm just writing this for the next person who is fearful of the dentist and is potentially going to avoid dental work or spend many days being terrified beforehand. I'd happily go back and get more work done - like a lot of things, the anxiety was worse than the reality.

Take care,
Ross.

 

[iAzra]

My dentist uses Gelatamp - nanoparticle silver mesh - instead of antibiotics when wisdom tooth is removed.

Is nanoparticle silver OK for the ears? I have read both good and bad information about colloidal silver...

 

[jss]

Hello I have not posted for years. My tinnitus was finally getting tolerable after years of struggling. Well that all changed 8 days ago when I had one cracked molar filled top right side. The dentist did drill in short spurts 5 on and 10 off. Unfortunately it was so loud I immediately partially plugged my ears (with my fingers, softly) but it still was super loud even when I didn't plug my ears. After the procedure I was fine, slight increase but I was ok. Now eight days later my ears are screaming. Can ear damage show up after a week after exposure? and if so does anyone have success with presidone for post dental work? I should of never plugged my ears and it didn't go on too long, but wow what a spike. I will never plug my ears again, but I still think it was really loud. Any had a spike go away after a few weeks, sorry Im a little shaken up right now.

 

[InNeedOfHelp]

I just want to chip is as a professional dentist customer (visited too often in the last year for several root canals due to an incompetent dentist who overheated/killed three of my teeth in the process).

The reason why one drill is extremely loud while others are not is not always related to the drill. I have had a cavity drilled and root canals with the same electric driven drill - the cavities were very loud, high pitched but manageable. The root canals weren't manageable - I had to let him drill a second on, second off because of the intensity. It was exactly the same drill.

It has to do with the surface being drilled in. My root canal teeth were basically "virgin". He had to drill through the enamel, the hardest substance in our body. For filling replacement the sound will be generally less loud as he is drilling through either composite or amalgam - both not as hard as enamel. For very decayed teeth it wouldn't be noisy at all - decay is very soft.

If the decay is between the teeth, where the dentist has to drill upwards down, through healthy enamel first, it will be noisy, no matter what drill is used.

For root canals, I'd suggest to go to an endodontologist (specialist). They are trained in preserving as much healthy tooth structure as possible and work with microscopes. Because of that, the access cavity to get to the nerve will be much smaller. An inexperienced dentist might create a larger hole because this gives more working space for him. For a teeth without any decay (front teeth, canine, premolars) the drilling is less then 30 seconds for a root canal. It is straight down basically without needing to expand it sideways.

Hope this helps anyone in the future.

 

[Regis]

Hi all, I wanted to share my experience. I had two teeth drilled, one on Monday and one today. I also did some experiments with ear protection and the occlusion effect.

Monday
I used all the protection I had: foam earplugs rated at 30 dB and Peltor X5A earmuffs rated at 37 dB. The sound of the drilling was loud but manageable. I could not really hear the suction. I did not take any sound measurements.

Today
I did not use any protection, and the sound of the drilling was actually much quieter. This time I could hear the suction, but overall the sound of everything seemed quieter and easier to manage. I kept my phone a few centimeters from my mouth during the whole procedure, and the average noise was 71 dB, with the highest reaching 86 dB.

On both days, the dentist drilled for as long as needed. I did not ask for breaks every few seconds. In total, the drilling only lasted a few minutes each day. The dentist paused occasionally, but only when he needed to.

Summary
On both days, I did not experience any spike in my tinnitus from the drilling. The lesson I learned is that, for me, the experience was more manageable without hearing protection.