Going to the Dentist, How Should I Prepare?

I have to go see a dentist, check-up, clean and maybe fillings, how should I prepare?

What can I get them to do to minimize potential increases in tinnitus? Earplugs or muffs? What is everyone's advice on the best way to get through a dental appointment without increasing tinnitus?!

 

Some dental fillings could be (mostly) done using a dental laser (which is Much quieter than a regular dental drill, and that you don't really need to worry about). However, most dentists don't own a dental laser. If your dentist tells you that you have some cavities that need to be taken care of, don't let him or her do this, unless they can do it with a dental laser. When you come home, call around, find a dentist who owns a laser (and an electric-powered drill, see below), and let them tell you whether a laser can be used in your case. I was told that a laser can't be used to replace an existing filling, but I found a dentist who had a laser that he was able to use to replace one of my fillings.

For many types of cavities, a laser is not appropriate. In those cases, find a dentist who owns a newer electric-powered (as opposed to louder air-powered) drill. Ask the dentist to drill for at most 5 seconds, followed by breaks that last at least 10 seconds. This will end up more than tripling the total drilling time - so you might want to offer to pay for the extra time. Some dentists will be open to this, while many will not be as accommodating. In the latter case - find another dentist.

You mentioned dental cleaning.

It is probably not a good idea to wear ear plugs or even ear muffs during a dental procedure because of occlusion effect (the sound will bounce off of the tip of the inserted earplug back into your ear, making the total noise louder). But you might want to experiment, and see whether hearing protection works for you.

Before your visit, you could take NAC and Nicotinamide Riboside before your dental procedure. These supplements are supposed to minimize the effects of an acoustic trauma on the inner ear. To be completely hardcore, and to pull out all stops, you might even take Prednisone before and after your procedure. See my post on
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...itus-recently-this-info-will-be-useful.25741/
to find out how you can get your hands on some prednisone.

From now on, you will want to take care of your teeth and to have a dentist examine your teeth once every 3 months. That way, a dentist can notify you as soon as it appears like you are developing a small cavity, and the doctor will be able to use the laser (as the cavity will still be small).

Check out the poll below...
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...tus-spike-following-a-dental-procedure.30197/

 

Here is a description of my experiences
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/dentist-laser-vs-ordinary.2791/#post-272983

 

I agree and that was my experience. But it is SO important to take care of your dental health. Try not to worry now. Even I still go for cleanings and such! It really isn't that bad. I think the anxiety of the experience is the worse part. Deep breathe and try to keep yourself relaxed.

Keep us up updated!

 

Jeeze!!! Why are simple things with Tinnitus so mind numbingly exhausting!!! It’s like a military precision planning operation each time we need to consider stuff like this!! SO frustrating!!! x

 

Thank you all for your help and feedback!

In terms of the cleaning I had heard that for any dental cleaning etc., I should ensure that I use manual tools and avoid ultrasonic or sonic tools (such as tooth scalers), what is the general consensus of users on here of that? I was told that if I require a teeth polish, it would be a sonic polish, but I do not have to have it, are there pros and cons to avoiding it?

Thank you so much for taking the time!

Very best,

Jonathan

 

@JohnJohnJohn

I take NAC and magnesium a few days before and for several days afterwards.
Check for side effects of both NAC and magnesium before taking.

I have the dentist drill on and off. 5 seconds on and 10 seconds off. The dentist and office should be notified about this several days before the appointment. Make it clear that you have tinnitus. Laser use if possible. Manual cleanings.

Close mouth to rest the jaw for a minute if a long procedure is taking place.

Keep head straight inline with shoulders.

Give your chin support if pressure is being placed on your jaw.

I have a small pillow placed on the head rest.

I use headphones, but ones with only 20 percent decibel protection.

 

I’ve never had problems with the dentist.

 

You should definitely get your teeth cleaned at least 2X a year, it's very important and there's no cons to manual cleanings.

I have had both manual and ultrasonic dental cleanings, the former before ultrasonic, and the latter before tinnitus - although there was no connection between my tinnitus onset and having my teeth cleaned with the ultrasonic equipment.

When you request a manual cleaning, the dentist or hygienist may ask you if you have a pacemaker, because ultrasonic tooth cleaning is not safe for those patients, but they won't object to your reason. At my last cleaning, the hygienist told me that she has tinnitus herself, and believes that it resulted from being exposed to the sounds of her equipment in the dental offices where she has worked for many years.

 

I was worried the first time I went to the dentist after developing tinnitus but it's not a big deal. I've had a filling and cleaning. I did ask for no sonic cleaning and my teeth were clean enough that it wasn't needed anyways.

I recommend not using hearing protection during the visit, and that's coming from someone uses muffs all the time

 

Most that have problems at the dentist connects to trauma of physical somatic pathways. It would be wise for those with physical somatic tinnitus to use correct posture while in the dental chair. This is well documented in studies.

 

Ok it seems like I should go for a manual clean, odes anyone know if the polish that follows a clean it dangerous for the ears?

 

I highly doubt that the post-cleaning polish is dangerous to the ears.

 

I don't want to give you false reassurance but I had quite a bit of dental work done lately with no increase in the tinnitus apart from temporarily after a temporary crown cap. I did ask the dentist to try to minimise the length of time he did any drilling and minimise the dental work done as far as possible – take a conservative approach. My tinnitus might be less noise sensitive than say bill's, but I did have a spike after going to see a film at a loud odeon luxe cinema, for comparison

 

Thanks for all your feedback! I guess I'm just wondering if the post-cleaning polish uses the same sonic or ultrasonic approach that makes the scaler so dangerous for our ears in terms of causing or worsening tinnitus!

 

Here is something that got posted today that indicates that it is a good idea to turn down the offer of polishing:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/dentist-polishing-tinnitus-spike.30738

 

I don't get it...why is ultrasonic bad again? I've been to the dentist every year and the sounds are nowhere close to being worrisome to me...what exactly makes it bad?

 

You clearly do not have serious/severe Tinnitus.
Your cochlea is covered in suede. (Cilia fibres.)
We hear everything through bone, and every sound is very harsh.
Also, bone conductivity carries the ultrasonic noise and vibration straight to the brain.
Just be thankful that you don’t have ‘real’ Tinnitus.

 

Ok well the information displayed above made it seem like everyone who has t (the general pool of individuals) should be worried about such procedures. I'm sure this kind of thing would make many people paranoid (including myself) , i just wanted to be clear if i am missing something.

 

https://www.tinnitusformula.com/library/dental-issues-and-tinnitus/

 

Thank you so much, that article was really helpful. So scary to think a drill used in a dentist office could reach 100 dbs!

 

This is a bit harsh. Ultrasonic cleanings only travel to the brain if the dental assistant has to press hard enough against your teeth because they have developed plague or are dirty. For someone who is younger, and has clean teeth, the actual cleaning head does not need to come in contact with the teeth. There is a BIG difference in sound.

 

Realistically speaking, teeth develop plaque, and stains.
For those with serious Tinnitus the only way to continue to approach life, and to confront further potential damage, is with caution. IMHO.

 

Hi all,

I have to go and get a filling a week today, apparently it's a very small one on the top right back molar, my tinnitus is in the left ear and from noise exposure. I am afraid of making things worse with the dentist drill, etc.

Can anyone give me a list of steps I can take to make it through this without worsening my tinnitus?

Thank you all!

John

 

These are the suggestions I've read:

Don't wear ear plugs
Ask them to take frequent breaks between drillings
Take NAC (N-Acetylcysteine) for days before going

 

I read the following interesting quote here:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...nnitus-—-questions-and-experiences.826/page-4

Does anybody know anything about drill bits and which would be good to ask for?