Dentist Claims Dental Work Cannot Make Tinnitus Worse

@Kelvin -- Could be the "Occlusion Effect"

Occlusion Effect Dangerous? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

Any update?

 

Get a new dentist.

There are reports of dentists themselves getting tinnitus due to working with drills etc. If he isn't aware of this, what else is he not aware of within his profession?

 

I was supposed to go in for the first 2 on monday but I was too scared and cancelled.. bad decision, I know. I’m trying to find a dentist that works with laser.

 

Tinnitus is such a complex phenomena, you have to be a small minded biggot to claim there is no chance there is a connection between dental work and tinnitus.

 

That's good news. I couldn't find a dentist near me who uses laser for drilling. Also, be mindful that some dentists have different lasers and might still need to drill. Ask if the filling involves all laser. Someone posted that the wisdom tooth removal involves less noise than cavity filling. I don't know about that but you could ask the dentist as the dentist should have an idea.

Remember to request breaks and say you will put up your hand to signal whenever you want the dentist to stop and give you a break.

 

I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth out, and only one needed a drill, and was done by a general dentist. The next 3 were done by an oral surgeon, and no drilling was needed, just the local, and expert pulling, so not loud at all.

Foam earplugs and dentistry definitely make things louder via occlusion effect. Some wear noise canceling headphones and say it helps, although I have no direct experience.

I recently had both ultrasonic tooth cleaning, and a larger cavity drilled and filled on 2 separate visits. Neither spiked my tinnitus or effected it in any way. I did notice the dental office had a lot of newer equipment, and the drill was definitely quieter than I would expect. I think some new electric drills can be a lot quieter so you can seek that out, and not sure if that is what was used on me.

 

Update: still haven’t gone. There’s literally NO dentist in this country that uses anything but a drill I am getting one filling in a couple weeks. I’ll do them one by one to lessen the exposure-time. So stressed about this still

 

Got dental work lately involving a conventional drill which was conducting noise through the bone. So ear plugs made no difference. I felt my bad ear, which happened to be on the side he was drilling, developing that familiar full feeling, even though I got him to give me a couple of pauses.

I thought this dentist only used laser drills but this was drilling through an implant bridge which apparently required a good old fashioned heavy duty drill.

The fullness lasted a day or two as per usual with me these days but I would have asked for more pauses if it hadn't been sprung on me like that.

 

Going tomorrow. Conventional drill. I’m rather nervous but trying not to overthink it since it has to be done anyway. I will ask for frequent breaks and update afterwards.

Hope everyone’s having an okay day

 

Fingers crossed that everything is gonna be alright. Rooting for you, Lynny.

 

@Lynny How did it go?

 

Hey sorry for my late reply.

The dentist itself went ok, he took great care to apply the 5-10 second rule and let me choose what drill he was going to use.

Surprisingly enough, the electric drill produced a sound that was much more invasive than the non-electric one. Also it was quicker.

I took some xanax beforehand so the visit itself was not very stressful at all. I didn’t have a very major spike (yet) but my ears are very sensitive now and I haven’t really checked wether there may have been any changes (by plugging my ears or forcing myself to be in a quiet space).

This was my first appointment of 5 so I’ve got a long way to go, though.

I wish you all the best and good luck if you’re in a similar situation.

 

I'm so glad that so far it's been okay. No need to apologize, I guessed that you were waiting to see how it goes. Hope it continues to be alright.

 

I am glad it went okay and that you have an understanding dentist that agreed to the breaks during the procedure.

I have to go through the same routine. I might do the same thing and get the fillings one at a time to limit exposure. Good idea, Lynny.