I Could Kick Myself for Not Stopping My Loud Dental Procedure

I went to my dentist today to start the preparation for a crown on one of my molars. I've had crowns before, although by a different dentist, and I never had any problems.

Today the sound of the drill bit/burr removing the old tooth was excruciatingly loud. It was so bad I stopped the dentist a few times, and I could kick myself for not stopping the entire procedure because I knew even as it was going on that it was damaging my hearing and would worsen my tinnitus.

I just don't understand why I didn't stop the whole thing and leave. The sound transmitted through my jaw bone to my ears was just unbelievable. I've never experienced any dental work so loud before. I wonder if it was because of the type of drill bit/burr the dentist used. I just don't know.

But if you are ever in a situation you think is damaging your hearing, just stop and get out! Don't hesitate and be regretful like me. It's not worth it. I had reached the point with my tinnitus where I could mostly ignore it, but now I know it will get worse again.

 

Kick me while you're at it.

 

Also don't let a dentist near you with one of those ultrasonic cleaners which transmit high-energy sonic shockwave directly through your jaw bone/cranium to the tiny inner ear bones. It seems we are under assault from all sides with this Tinnitus thing.

 

How do tinnitus people get dental work if you need more than a typical cleaning?

It's more torture you have to go through? Yet, we are told by doctors and even some (habituate shills) here that you just 'have to get used to it.'

 

QUOTE="PeteJ, post: 437900, member: 35926"]How do tinnitus people get dental work if you need more than a typical cleaning[/QUOTE]

I've had fillings and crowns before, but never anything that approached the intensity of what I experienced today. It was off the charts unbelievable.

I had gotten to the point where I could almost forget I have tinnitus except when it's very quiet. Now after this incident I notice it like crazy. It's just blaring.

 

I've had fillings and crowns before, but never anything that approached the intensity of what I experienced today. It was off the charts unbelievable.[/QUOTE]

Sorry you had to go through this!

Honestly though, once it was half done, they kind of had to complete it. You can't leave the tooth half destroyed at that point, and unable to get a crown as it would just rot, and you would be back.

Hope your T gets better soon!

 

Sorry you had to go through this!

Honestly though, once it was half done, they kind of had to complete it. You can't leave the tooth half destroyed at that point, and unable to get a crown as it would just rot, and you would be back.

Hope your T gets better soon![/QUOTE]
You know what? You can get a tooth implant, but you can't get your hearing back. Hearing loss is permanent. If I'd had the presence of mind to stop the whole procedure, I would have done so and let my tooth rot or go to a different dentist who maybe used different equipment. I never had this problem with my old dentist.

 

They drill quite a bit for a tooth implant too.

Agree that hearing is permanent and to listen to your body. My point is you had no good choice here.

 

I am trying to work and the ringing in my ears is so loud I'm having difficulty focusing. It's so bad I want to go home. This is the first time tinnitus has really interfered with my life and work.

 

The thing I can't get over is that I could have stopped this from happening and I didn't. (I've literally slapped my head like that several times today.) I've been so protective of my hearing for years, and just because the dentist started I guess I thought I had to go through with it. I don't really understand what I was thinking. In any other context there is no way I would have allowed myself too be subjected to such loud noise for an extended period of time. No way. And now my tinnitus is extremely loud, worse than it's been in 20 years. And what's worse is I know this means more hearing loss. I'm just venting.

 

Sorry about your bad dental experience. I've had many dental procedures including at least 4 or 5 extractions, bridges and replacement bridges, root canals and root canal failures, a tooth that had a nerve die (worst pain I've ever had), crowns, bone grafts and implants, unusual activity where a tooth had been pulled, and more. We have to have the work done. About 2 weeks ago I went for a cleaning and forgot to tell the hygienist to do it manually, rather than use that ultrasonic monster, so I just let her finish. I had an increase in tinnitus, and was angry at first, but I try not to think about this too much, as you can't change what happened you can only try to not let it happen again.

Hopefully the increase in noise you are experiencing is a temporary spike, and you'll return to baseline soon. This often happens after dental visits, for me, and others. Good luck, I hope that your next visits are less intrusive on your ears.

 

QUOTE="Luman, post: 438175, member: 26153"]Sorry about your bad dental experience. I've had many dental procedures...[/QUOTE]

Luman, thank you for your reply and words of wisdom. I will probably habituate over time (eventually) to the new level of tinnitus, but that new level is the result of more damage to my hearing, meaning hearing loss which is permanent. That is very hard to accept. I'm actually having intermittent physical pain in my ears.

 

@Luman,

hi there, did you say you had a dental bridge done while you had tinnitus? I also am planning to have one and I'm a bit edgy about it. How did you find the drilling of the adjacent teeth? Did you use ear muffs?

 

No, not a bridge. I was starting the process of getting a crown. the first part of the process is they use some kind of drill or grinder to remove most of the damaged tooth. Wearing earplugs would not have helped at all. The intense sound vibration was coming directly through the bone to my ears. if you experience anything like that during your dental work, don't hesitate. Tell the dentist to stop and get the hell out of there.

 

I have not worn ear muffs, but I have used plugs. I've since read that wearing earplugs or muffs can create an occlusion effect in the ear during drilling, so I probably will not do that again. I have also read on this site, and others, that we should always ask the dentist to drill in short bursts, for 5 seconds, and take a rest. We probably should not allow the the dentist or hygienist to use ultra-high frequency tooth cleaning equipment, but I forgot to ask for a manual cleaning the last time I had one, and by the time I realized that she was using one of these devices, this part of the cleaning was almost over. As there are so many people with hearing problems and tinnitus, especially very old people, I find it a bit hard to believe that getting the teeth cleaned with this equipment for a few minutes twice a year is particularly dangerous, but better to be safe, than sorry. The ultrasonic cleaner is not supposed to be used on patients with a pacemaker, so all dentists and hygienists must know how to clean teeth manually, for those patients with a pacemaker.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fine at the dentist and your new bridge will likely turn out to be a very good thing.

 

There is a chance that it will fade over the next three months or so.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/dentist-laser-vs-ordinary.2791/#post-272983

 

I also had a dental appointment yesterday and now I think my tinnitus is louder. I still haven't completely ruled out that maybe it's just my perception, but usually when it's only my perception, I'm fine the next day. This time, I think it's really louder. Like you, once the procedure started, I wanted to see it through.

I wish I was taking this as well as you are.

 

@SugarMagnolia: May I kindly ask what dental procedure you had done?

 

Cleaning and polishing. I had a lot of tartar and the dentist couldn't do it all manually. He used the ultrasonic and honestly it didn't seem terribly loud. He stopped frequently so it was never prolonged. The polishing did seem loud but he only did it a few seconds at a time. I probably should have stopped the polishing right away, but by that time I was psyched that I was doing so well and wanted to see it through to the end. I really didn't think it would be a problem. It wasn't high-pitched (like the ultrasonic) and it was so brief.

 

You know.... I take responsibility for not stopping the procedure and leaving. That's my fault. On the other hand, my dentist is not a new dentist. He's been doing dental work work for many years. When I made it clear how much pain I was experiencing I think he should have realized what was happening and offered me the option to stop or found some way to reduce the noise (different drill bit?). I don't know, but I think he has some unquantifiable level of responsibility in this also. I'm on my way to see my primary care physician so I can get a referral to see an ear doctor, not that I believe anything can be done at this point to mitigate the damage. At the end of the day, I'll have missed time from work, spent money on co-pays and gasoline just to be told "What's done is done. There's nothing you can do about it now." I read online that researchers may have found a way to mitigate hearing damage by injecting something into your inner ear, but the injection has to occur within hours after the trauma to your ears. I think it's just in research.

 

So the doctor didn't think it was necessary for me to see a specialist. He prescribed a steroid pack of methylprednisolone for inflammation which he said is what's causing the pain.

 

I've read that they can also do a steroid injection directly into the into the inner ear.

 

But did you experience severe pain in your ears during the procedure? If not, you probably didn't suffer any damage. Irritation maybe, but probably not real damage.

 

You need to find another dentist. First of all, everything can be done manually. It is possible that your dentist didn't want to bother with the manual tools (as he didn't take your concerns seriously), so he just told you some random justification for doing what he wanted to do. Second of all, even if manual tools would not be able to get rid of all of the tartar, it should have cleaned most of it, and a little remaining tartar is not worth the risk of louder tinnitus...

 

I've been calling the dentist's office since Monday or Tuesday tell them to call their lab and cancel the crown but they don't answer the phone or return calls. There is no %^•π& way I'm going back to see that dentist . I'm trying to decide whether or not to file a complaint with whatever agency handles that sort of thing.

 

There was no pain.

He used both sonic and hand tool. There were lots of breaks with the sonic. It didn't seem that bad. The polishing tool was louder than I expected and actually made me more nervous, but it was a few seconds at a time.

I'm not 100% sure that my tinnitus is louder. I intended to wait a while before posting anything about it, but then my fear got the better of me. It's possible that it's the same and I just became more aware of it. I have been down this road before. If I get re-habituated, I should be able to know for certain if it is the same or not.

So for now, I'm in uncertainty.

 

I think it is safe (minimal impact on the probability of developing a gum disease) to turn down the polishing tool.

 

If it were to get louder, you would Know. I think you will be ok.

 

You're probably right. I once took a course of antibiotics (before I knew that they can affect tinnitus) and I immediately noticed the ringing being louder.

 

I'm now starting to notice a change in my hearing. Everything sounds muted. I'm not hearing high frequency sounds as much. I did get an appointment to see an ENT doctor next week. I'm going to ask the doctor about the steroid injections or extending the oral steroid because the pack my PCP gave me is only for 5 days. Of course, if the microscope hair cells were damaged, which I imagine they probably were considering how brutally loud and painful the noise was (it was like having that dentist drill right in my ears), I don't really have any hope of recovering that hearing. The dentist office finally called me back today. They told me the office had been closed for a few days. Anyway they said it was too late to stop the lab because they'd already done the work. So now I'm out $400 because I'm not going back to that &$*#@.