Desperately Need Dentist Advice from the "Old Timers" Please

Hi all,
I am looking for advice from long term t people about going to the dentist. I know the topic of the dentist has been discussed a zillion times already in various threads, but what I am looking for is actual real life accounts from people with long term t like 5 + years.

Can anyone please tell me if you have had any dental work done since you got your T? If so did you have any adverse effects and did you use or not use plugs?

I have dentist tomorrow afternoon...been avoiding it for years but now have a raging tooth ache and have no choice but to go....I know I need multiple fillings, a crown and a possible root canal, have a very deep cavity on the upper left left right below my worst T ear ....on the check they said the decay was right down to the nerve and would probably need a root canal treatment.

If anyone could respond before tomorrow afternoon then I would greatly greatly appreciate it. To say I am worried is beyond an understatement...I literally feel like tomorrow I could possibly be going to my grave, if it wasn't for the fact I can't even eat or drink anything other than luke warm water I would just deal with the pain and not go...but obviously I can't carry on in agony AND not being able to eat....sigh....

Many many thanks x

 

Not 5 year+ but i have loads of experience when it comes to visiting my dentist with T. Since my onset i have done 6 fillings and 1 bad rooth canal. On top of that i have done one crown. And o yes i have been eating a lot of sugar since T started. No changes in T after any of the events but i must admit that the grinding when i had my crown was hard. When i did my first filling i had problems with my H but i wasn´t as loud as i imagined it to be when the drilling started.

 

I have had a few dentist visits and actually I don`t know why you are scared to go - is it the noise exposure? it`s not that loud ... if it is for you it has more to do with H than T. I don`t think the noise will give you extra hearing trauma which will result in more T ... be at peace.

 

Many thanks Nills, I do have H/sound sensitivity to a degree yes but I can cope with that...my worry is the noise and vibrations increasing the t permanently. Normally if I have to encounter any prolonged noise like that I would just plug, but as plugging increases the occlusion effect which could be potentially more damaging than just not plugging at all...argh..I don't know it's impossible to know what's for the best...that's why I am looking for some people who have experience going and can tell me their outcome.

Thanks for your reply Nills, I assume you didn't use plugs then?

 

Ask for an old-timer and ye shall receive. I'm a senior (not in the photo, of course, that's just in my head and mind - like tinnitus). Pre-cochlear implant, I had a couple of fillings and four crowns to get and/or replace. Drilling and clicking around in my mouth by a dentist and having something as teeth cleaning done was equivalent to scraping my young nails on a blackboard. (Sorry, I sense the screams from folks out there.) Because I was hearing impaired and my bone conduction was very good it drove me up the wall.

If you plug your ears, you reduce the sound you need in your head to block the drilling, etc. sounds. I'd never do that - allowing distracting sounds reduce the scraping, poking, and drilling noises. I'll make the suggestions I've used again, when I could hear.
1. Plug in your ipod or whatever you use to hear music. Obviously don't blast it. I allows:
-- focusing on music you enjoy rather than what's happening in the office (tell your DDS, at least at first, you're attempting to lessen the sound of the drills or whatever). They should understand this.
-- If you don't have something to listen to, a DDS ago, had a boom box and played Peter and the Wolf.
That helped a lot.
-- Include that the person working on you move your head as needed. You have to be able to
be loose enough to have this happen. Dentists and ENTs are used to moving my head and body like
a puppet.
2. This I don't recommend ... take something (someone else will have to make a suggestion as to what) that
will relax you - it doesn't have to be a prescription. Nitrous oxide worked for me but it's an added expense.
-- Have a friend drive you there so you don't have to worry about driving home.

I still have dentistaphobia but at least my mouth work is done at this time.

Best of luck to you, Rhea.

 

I had some dental work done and opted for no earplugs - I really don't think the drilling is loud enough or long enough to cause any damage. I didn't see how could earplugs help in this situation either, with all vibrations and sound resonating inside your mouth. Common sense tells me earplugs could actually make it worse, with air pressure rising. This is just my opinion though.

Be honest to your dentist, tell him about your concerns and ask him to make short pauses when you feel a discomfort in your ears because of drilling.

 

I've had all kinds of dental work done over the years with both the high-speed and low-speed drills. I never wore ear plugs. Additionally, I've not had any T reaction to the local anesthetic that was used. Anyway, my T never changed even temporarily from any of the work I had done.

Remember that anxiety in itself can cause a spike in our T. So, try to keep that under control.

Good to hear from you again, Rhea and Good Luck, tomorrow!...

 

Relax Rhea, you will do ok.
I have had implants, extractions etc.
I do wear a noise canceling headphone with music playing.
Good luck, let us know how you do.

 

thanks to all that have replied, feeling slightly better already So glad to have this forum and nice people who take a little time out of their day to support others...feeling loved

Well, I will go tomorrow and explain all the concerns and see if the dentist is willing to be accommodating for pauses in drilling etc...if he is then I will definitely be getting part of the work done at least.

I will be petrified tomorrow I know it, but will remember all your reassurance and kind words. I think I have decided not to wear plugs because of the occlusion effect...gonna be hard to just hear that drill noise bearing in mind the max noise I am ever exposed to is like 65db for 30 mins in the shower and that's not even taking into consideration the vibrations too...oh well here goes nothing

I'll give an update tomorrow.

Hugs to all x

 

Hello @Rhea ,

Since I got my H (plus my T of 10 years) last summer, I've had to go to the dentist to get 3 fillings done for the first time ever (perfect timing eh!?)

Anyways, I wore some Bose over ear headphones just to take the edge off and I was fine. My audiologist said that the drill isn't loud enough to do any damage, but if it would make me feel a bit better then ask the dentist to follow the "5 seconds of drilling and 5 seconds off" - and for me that helped.

While it was a bit unpleasant, from what I could tell my T or my H didn't increase...it just wasn't all that fun

 

Ill chime in too, have t 9 years. Dentist is no problem, had a deep filling a month back, nothing to worry about.

Make sure you go over a plan with your dentist, it will set you at ease. My dentist was very understanding, drilled in bursts, took regular breaks and changed drill speeds as necessary. Not sure she needed to do any of that but it made me feel better!

 

OK, I feel a little sheepish here but I said I would come on and update about how the dentist appointment went...basically ...it didn't :|

So I got there, felt sick, faint (pathetic I know) but had psyched myself up to just get it the hell over and done with...I sat there and waited, and waited and waited....during my long wait I noticed what a shambles the dentists was..there were two complaints about the dentist while I was sitting there...1 on the phone so I could only hear the receptionist apologizing, another where a guy came in and was moaning about the work he had had done. Also the waiting room was grotty to say the least...none of this was helping my anxiety. I know what I was going to ask the dentist to do meant that my appointment may take longer than usual - as I was going to ask they drill in 5 second bursts with gaps in between.....it got to an HOUR after I was meant to be seen and I decided that it was now increasingly unlikely that in the rush they would be in (waiting room was packed) that they were going to be far from accommodating/sympathetic about my requests...that combined with the complaints i'd heard, the grottyness, the ever increases nausea and light headedness......I got up went over to the desk and said ..I can't wait any longer I'm going and I left....epic fail :|

So here I am, still sitting here with raging toothache, not being able to eat, sore ears where I had my ear plugs in so damn deep to try and create as little room between the drum and plugs as possible so as to minimize the occlusion effect AND still no dental work done....honestly sometimes you have just got to laugh at the absurdity of this condition.......

So they booked me in again for next week. I honestly think in the meantime I will contact a reputable private dentist and try and get a consultation with them,....I have a feeling if I am going to be actually paying for the treatment at a private surgery they will be a lot more understanding than a poxy grotty NHS dentist...

thanks for reading x

 

@Rhea
A couple of things.
Drills are a lot quieter these days.
As you are looking for a new dentist why don't you check out laser dentistry.

 

Sorry to hear your dentist didn't go as smoothly as expected! Hopefully you can find a better dentist!

Does anybody know how loud a dentist drill is? I can't remember it being very loud at all!

 

Hi there, you have the same thought as me and I have been avoiding dental treatment.

I also worried about the noise and vibration especially the scaler but I read we can opt for manual cleaning which can somebody elaborate more on that?

 

Hi Eric when you go for regular cleaning they use those sonic high pitch scaler or they do the manual way that some guys mentioned here in this forum?

 

Do you have to request for the manual one? or manual is the default method to use?

 

Sorry Rhea, hope you find a dentist you trust.
I also walked out of an dental practice.
Did not like the way the exam room and equipment looked and front desk area was a mess.
I now have a dentist that knows what my challenges are and is very patient.

 

Rhea, I have been in T 3 years 24/7 I have had a lot of dental work done since then, the work was extensive, it did not change T either way. I suppose if you stress about it enough, the stress itself could trigger T

 

Hey erik, that would make a good sig...