Dentist Appointment for Cavities — Should I Be Worried?

I have a dentist appointment for a toothache I've been having on my left side, which is the side with most of my tinnitus, should I be worried? I really need to get this done because I can barely eat with my left side of my mouth and it sucks.

 

Bring some earplugs, and mention to the dentist you have tinnitus. People I've spoken to, who have tinnitus and had dental work done, haven't had any problems from the work. I had a tooth drilled down and crowned, last Oct., and it was fine. A friend of mine with wicked tinnitus had root canal, wore his earplugs, and had no increase in tinnitus. Modern drills aren't really very loud, if they were it would be dangerous for everybody, especially seniors.

 

I respectfully disagree with Luman. There are many people on this site who got their T after dental work, or who got a permanent spike after dental work. If you do your homework, you can find a dentist who uses drills that are less loud. Majority of dentists in North America use the old-fashioned loud air-powered drills (in Europe the newer electric-powered drills are more common).

Dental lasers are great, as far as T is concerned. One dentist might tell you that their laser wouldn't be able to handle your type of a cavity, and another dentist might tell you that his or her laser could do the job. With lasers, they have to use a regular drill to even up the new filling. So make sure they use an electric-powered (as opposed to air-powered) drill. Call various dentists and find the one who has both a new laser and an electric powered drill.

Earplugs might make things worse due to the occlusion effect. Google it or search this site. Muffs worked great with a dental laser.

Also ensure that your dentist agrees to drill for At Most 5 seconds followed by a 10 second break. Pay your dentist for the extra time. Again, it is not easy to find a dentist who would agree to do this.

Here is a link to the post where I describe my experience
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/dentist-laser-vs-ordinary.2791/#post-272983

 

I recently had a cavity filled. No problems, no spike. I wore earplugs for part of the procedure and removed them for some portions where the occlusion effect made the noise seem louder.

I did not ask my dentist to drill for five seconds then break for ten seconds. Yet I counted and that is what she was inadvertently doing. Often the breaks were longer. Maybe the longest drill stretch was 8 seconds, but that was the last drilling.

Just keep in mind that for every negative story on TT, there are far more untold stories of members and nonmembers not experiencing spikes from dental care.

 

I've had a tremendous about of dental work since having tinnitus and never had a problem from prolonged drilling and when I say a lot I mean a lot, implants, root canals, crowns drilled off, you name it and I probably had it done. Dental work never affects my tinnitus.

 

Don’t use ear plugs it will give the occlusion effect. I had two fillings last summer no problems. I did not find the drill that loud to be honest although the pitch of it was irritating.