Need to Go to the Dentist!

Christophe_85

Christophe_85

Member
Author
Benefactor
Dec 20, 2016
690
Geneva, Switzerland
Tinnitus Since
November 2015
Cause of Tinnitus
Not sure...
#1
Ok I have pushed back the deadline to go for an appointment to the Dentist... I have never been since I got tinnitus and hyperacusis back in 2015...

As you can know, I am scared as f*** ! :(

To me, my life could be ok right now, even sometimes I really feel down and hopeless but still, this life could be ok... I guess...

And if a bad experience like this (Dentist) would increase my Tinnitus, I would feel so down and just would like to die !

And after all the efforts I am doing to keep a life quite bearable, if just this s*** can almost kill me in my motivation I couldn't stand it !

From your experience, how did you go through this terrible high-pitched sound ???

Many thanks for your background !

All the Best !

Christophe
 
#2
If you can avoid it get corticosteroids vitamins/magnesium/creatine/NAC before noise exposure to dentist.
 
#3
Do not despair...get yourself one of those electronic earmuffs, they use at the gun firing range.
They will not not block your hearing completely, but they will allow only certain decibels in and after the noise exceeds those decibels, it cuts out all the noise above the preset level.
This way you can still carry a normal conversation at the gun range, without lifting your muffs to be able to hear people.
The reason why I'm advising you to wear the electronic ones and not the plain ones is the fact, that while the plain ones do good job at blocking the drill noise, they will amplify anything going on inside your mouth since your ears are effectively plugged.
The electronic muffs solve this problem by allowing some noise in, but cutting it out when it reaches dangerous level.
Hope this helps..let me know how you made out.
 
#6
Christophe_85 said:
From your experience, how did you go through this terrible high-pitched sound ???
Click to expand...

I explain it to the dentist and hygienist every time and they generally tell me that they'll be careful and that I can raise my hand whenever I feel uncomfortable for them to take a break.
Never had any issues so far.
 
#7
What high pitch tool are you referring to? The drill isn't that high pitched, usually, and you can wear earplugs or muffs.

I don't allow the dentist or hygienist to use the ultrasonic scaler for cleaning my teeth, I have them do it manually.
 
Last edited:
#8
GregCA said:
I explain it to the dentist and hygienist every time and they generally tell me that they'll be careful and that I can raise my hand whenever I feel uncomfortable for them to take a break.
Never had any issues so far.
Click to expand...

I hope I will find a nice Dentist... who can understand this issue !

So they can use some different tools who are maybe less high-pitched ?
 
#9
Christophe_85 said:
But did you explain to the Dentist before starting ?
Click to expand...
I did. He wrote it down in the system I have tinnitus and asks me how its going when I go in for a checkup. He uses the normal tools. I never really found the high pitch tool all that noisy at my dentist - well not enough for me to think it would cause hearing damage.
 
#11
Christophe_85 said:
So they can use some different tools who are maybe less high-pitched ?
Click to expand...

I suppose they have some amount of control over the speed of the tools and therefore the noise they make, but I suspect that there is a requirement for the speed to be above a certain value in order for the tool to be efficient.

In my case it was mostly about me having the ability to request for a break by raising my hand, not a change in the configuration of their tool.
 
#13
I agree with what others have said here. It's possible to get spike from your dentist due to your anexity, but I can't see how you would get ascoustic trauma from the noise of a dentist (physical damage to your ear).
 
#14
Pleasure_Paulie said:
I agree with what others have said here. It's possible to get spike from your dentist due to your anexity, but I can't see how you would get ascoustic trauma from the noise of a dentist (physical damage to your ear).
Click to expand...

Actually I did read some studies related to hearing loss assessed on the medical staff (dental hygienists, etc), and there was unfortunately some statistically significant effect.
What I couldn't find a study on was the effects on the patients, who are exposed to durations that are much shorter and much more infrequent.
 
#15
GregCA said:
Actually I did read some studies related to hearing loss assessed on the medical staff (dental hygienists, etc), and there was unfortunately some statistically significant effect.
What I couldn't find a study on was the effects on the patients, who are exposed to durations that are much shorter and much more infrequent.
Click to expand...
I had my teeth cleaned the other day, and my dental hygienist told me that she has tinnitus in one ear. She suspects it's due to the noise from the equipment.
 
#16
@Christophe_85

My dentist has tinnitus, she told me this several years ago. I haven't been to see her in over two years because my TMJD has been acting out more than usual. There is no way I could sit through a cleaning with the pain in my jaw. She is aware of this, of course, and has instilled in me the importance of good at home oral care. Now here I am with tinnitus, also. Mine isn't due to a hearing trauma, but needless to say, I will not be going to the office unless I have a dental emergency.
 
#19
Luman said:
What high pitch tool are you referring to? The drill isn't that high pitched, usually, and you can wear earplugs or muffs.

I don't allow the dentist or hygienist to use the ultrasonic scaler for cleaning my teeth, I have them do it manually.
Click to expand...

The small drills are very noisy with high-pitch sounds ! :(

For the earplugs or earmuffs, wouldn't it be even worse because the noise comes from inside ???
 
#20
Pleasure_Paulie said:
I did. He wrote it down in the system I have tinnitus and asks me how its going when I go in for a checkup. He uses the normal tools. I never really found the high pitch tool all that noisy at my dentist - well not enough for me to think it would cause hearing damage.
Click to expand...

Your Dentist seems at least nice ! :)
 
#21
GregCA said:
I suppose they have some amount of control over the speed of the tools and therefore the noise they make, but I suspect that there is a requirement for the speed to be above a certain value in order for the tool to be efficient.

In my case it was mostly about me having the ability to request for a break by raising my hand, not a change in the configuration of their tool.
Click to expand...

And no earplugs or earmuffs for you during the session ?

Did you raise your hand often ?
 
#22
Ask your Dentist to drill 5 seconds, rest for 10 seconds. Reduces the noise load by 67%, very significant.

That's how I had my teeth done (plus I was super jacked up on NAC, magnesium, vitamins etc), and mercifully there was no tinnitus increase.

I've been super diligent about my teeth since then, to avoid having to ever go back again. :)
 
#23
emmalee said:
@Christophe_85

My dentist has tinnitus, she told me this several years ago. I haven't been to see her in over two years because my TMJD has been acting out more than usual. There is no way I could sit through a cleaning with the pain in my jaw. She is aware of this, of course, and has instilled in me the importance of good at home oral care. Now here I am with tinnitus, also. Mine isn't due to a hearing trauma, but needless to say, I will not be going to the office unless I have a dental emergency.
Click to expand...

Hello,

Thank you for your message, I see you just got Tinnitus last month... Sorry for you... :(

What is "TMJD" ? Something related to the Jaw ?
 
#26
#28
Christophe_85 said:
And no earplugs or earmuffs for you during the session ?
Click to expand...

No. It seemed to me that bone conduction was quite important in the propagation of the sound (from the patient's perspective of course, not for the doctor/hygienist), so it's quite possible that an ear plug would have made it worse (occlusion effect). I tested it a bit by plugging my ear with my finger, and the sound mostly remained (that's how I figured out the rough bone vs air component breakdown).

Christophe_85 said:
Did you raise your hand often ?
Click to expand...

No. The only time I did it was when drilling for a filling without anesthesia. It was because of the pain, not the noise though.
 
#29
There are electric dental Handpieces now. Dentist have been using them for the last ten years. They run very quiet.
If you can afford it, you can have your teeth worked on under sedation at a hospital. There are thousands of Dental patients who don't have tinnitus that fear Dentists, or who are bed ridden, that have their teeth worked on this way every day. Ask your Dentist, they will try their best to accommodate your needs. For most of us, we barely can afford a Dentist, and most Dentists can't afford electric Handpieces. If we don't want to loose our teeth, going to Dentist, is what we have to do. I hope you can find the courage to go.
TinA#oct
 
#30

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