Newest Dentist Visit Recommendations for a Person with Pre-Existing Tinnitus / Hyperacusis?

I have a dentist visit coming up due to a cavity. Haven't been to the dentist in 10+ years. I used the search on the topic, but some of the discussions are 4+ years old.

What's the latest to consider/avoid or when going to the dentist with tinnitus / hyperacusis?

 

I had root canal done a few weeks ago. Told the dentist about tinnitus + hyperacusis and put foam earplugs in when he drilled. Also informed him that if the noise got too much I might ask him to quickly take a break. He was very understanding.

Subjectively, after treatment I asked myself whether wearing an earplug had made things better or worse. For me it felt like the right thing to do (conductivity means the drill is still loud but I think the foam earplug deadened the proximate environmental noise to an adequate and bearable level).

I guess it all depends on severity but post treatment my tinnitus + hyperacusis were unaffected. Hope it goes well man.

 

People tend to avoid ultra sonic cleaners and opt for more of a manual cleaning. Some people also go by the drill for 5 seconds, rest for 5-10 seconds, and then repeat. I would avoid wearing hear protection when they are drilling due to the occlusion effect.

If you can find a laser dentist, that might be a better alternative to normal drilling.

 

Yeah I was a little worried about the occlusion effect, especially having potential drilling right near the ear along the jaw.

 

Looking into that in my area. There are a few that mention laser dentistry on their website, but not very specific as to the procedure. Def looks a lot quieter.

 

Update: Unfortunately the laser dentistry offered in my area is really for soft tissue, and not for cavity filling. So, I guess this is a no-win situation. Time to face the drill.

 

Keep us informed and good luck. Please note that there are some quiet electrical drills, maybe you can find one in your area.

 

Perhaps you should go beyond your area, a long drive and a night or 2 in a hotel might be worth it.

They can do everything except removing amalgam fillings.

 

I’m in a large city already. I’d be driving many hours to another state, multiple times. Then, my insurance becomes a factor too.

 

If it’s not a front tooth, I would just get it pulled.

 

I asked my dentist to do 5 seconds of drilling followed by a 5 second break when I had a filling/cavity done in January. The dentist was very understanding and did it. I also asked for a manual cleaning which they did.

 

This is what I’m thinking.

 

Hi @Diesel,

How did your appointment at the dentist go (if you already had it)?

Same situation here, due to a cavity I have an appointment coming Tuesday and I'm very nervous. Trying my best to stay calm though. It is my first cavity since having hyperacusis, so I found a laser dentist who was very kind and told me he will calmly go through the procedure and explain everything to me. Really hoping it's not gonna be that loud.

 

I had an appointment yesterday to have an extraction and an implant put in. The air coming out of the suction tube when left aside was more bothersome then the drill, but then some of the drill bits for the implant that was put in vibrated my head. Had a crazy spike after but today it is kinda so so...

 

What's the issue with ultra sonic cleaners at the dentist? I've never heard of this, but this looks like it may be better at cleaning your teeth than regular cleaning at the dentist.

 

I'm really interested in this too. As I'm really F'd. F'd really good. I had a cleaning recently with some X-rays. Looks like a root canal and a cap needs to be done to a broken tooth I've had for a couple of years. And I need like 6-8 cavity fillings. I'm really F'd.

It's my fault I guess. As I've been severely ill since I was a child, and my fatigue and joint pain, etc. would get worse each year. I had a positive blood test for Lyme Disease, and then later when I got real bad dryness. I got diagnosed with Sjogrens Syndrome, which is an autoimmune illness.

Anyways, as the years went on, I'd brush less than less. Like once a week. And then when I stopped working like 15 years ago. I'd brush less and less as I was just so ill that I didn't do anything that didn't have to get done to get me to the next day.

Then I'd start going months at a time without brushing. Also because the toothpaste at times would mess up my tongue/taste and cause food to taste weird. Anyways, I had a lot of cavities filled a few years ago before my tinnitus started. And just didn't brush my teeth and now need a root canal and several fillings.

I'm going to see if I can find one who does electric drilling.

Other thing is I'm on Medicare and don't have dental insurance and can't afford any of this. So I'm going to try and see if there is a charity dental program. Or maybe I get this done at the large hospital and hope my bill would get taken care of via their charity program for the uninsured. Though don't know as I have Medicare, but no dental insurance. Looks like my journey in life will be coming to an end soon.

Though most of my body is partially paralyzed and that's been real hard as I almost died 5 years ago when I had a disc herniation and went 90% paralyzed and lost the ability to eat for over a week and no one did anything. And my arthritis has gotten so bad the past couple of years that I've had to scream in the back of my throat a lot just to move my body as it's like being cut by a thousand knives a thousand different ways. It's so much worse than I can describe as all I've known is severe sickness and decay.

I plan to wear earplugs. As I know my tinnitus will get worse if I drill something and forget to wear my hearing protection. With a drill inside my head, I don't know if earplugs will help or hurt. But I'm going to put them in and hope for the best.

Does anyone know of any dental charities?

Thanks.

 

Many people have complained that the ultrasonic cleaners spike this tinnitus because it uses sound waves to break up plague. This sounds very loud via bone conduction.

 

Okay, thanks. Looks like I'll have to do more research as I like the idea of an ultrasonic cleaner cleaning my teeth as I've been bad about not really brushing my teeth much in the past decade due to horrible disabling illness that causes me to be bed ridden 24/7.

So you say manual cleaner with their powerful tooth brushes is quieter than the ultrasonic cleaner? I've only had my teeth cleaned via their powerful polishing toothbrushes.

I'm so ill and it's difficult to lie there with your mouth open not moving as I also have breathing problems, and so can have a panic attack from being claustrophobic. That I started many years ago when I'd go to the dentist. I'd take a couple of Ambien like 30 minutes before they start. And that's really helped with the anxiety as I generally would start falling asleep. And afterwards, it would feel like it was just a dream.

Are there any ultrasonic cleaners that may be designed to not be as loud via bone conduction that dentists may be using? Like anyone have a model number? Or are they all the same?

Thanks.

 

My dentist used ultrasound last week on me... the spike still hasn't come down :/

Don't do that!

 

I do my cleanings in a private room and with no sonic cleaner. I just tell them to do manual cleaning only, if they are somewhat competent, they shouldn't have a problem with that. My last dental hygienist actually had a son that had hyperacusis (he was autistic) so she really understood the condition and was very considerate. Unfortunately she has since retired and I need to find another one.

Avoid getting cavities...

 

Any updates? Has your tinnitus somewhat calmed down at the level it was before the spike?

 

Thanks for asking.

Yes the spike seems to have calmed down.

However - up until a few months ago, i had massive (extremely intrusive) fleeting tinnitus each day (5-10 times each day, and that was besides the normal tinnitus).

The fleeting have returned, and hasn't gone away. This curse is so god damn random...

 

I agree. Some days, it's calm, it's still there but manageable. And, some days, it's pure hell. Best of luck to you, the success stories on this forum provide huge support for me, I recommend to check it out when it's one of those days.

 

Thought I would share my recent experience:

I had not gone to the dentist in 3 years due to my illnesses, COVID-19 and new pain hyperacusis. The office called me and said that I needed to come in or they would have to let me go as a patient. This is technically the best dentist that I have ever used so it was time to man up and work this out.

My sister in law is a dental hygienist and helped me get up to speed with both an at home ultrasonic scale remover and manual tools to help me keep my teeth and gums in the best shape that I can. I also bumped up the flossing and rubber pick cleaning at the gum line. I used the untrasonic scaler on a limited basis only up front and with double protection backing off when my ears started to hurt.

I asked the hygienist to only use a manual scaler and limit the suction. She was reluctant at first assuming that it would be a disaster in there but as she got started she commented, wow, this looks really good for three years, what have you been doing exactly? We had to work out how to use the suction tube to minimize the higher pitched sounds but she was great to work with. They also turned off the overhead rock music system for me during the visit.

The doctor came in and explained my numerous cavities in my exposed roots that need work. We worked out that he will use a combination of laser (mostly) and abrasion and only a low speed drill if absolutely necessary. He said it will take longer but he really wants to help me. We are going to start with two adjacent teeth so our first trial will be limited in case it presents challenges. They also scheduled me on a day with only one other dentist so they can separate me from any drilling in the other chair (they have four stations).

I'll post of my experience after the first round of work is done. The cleaning only produced a mild same day only spike, nothing serious.

George

 

Will you be wearing any ear protection? Good luck.

 

Yes foam earplugs and ear defenders.

George

 

I had my first round done last week. He chose two teeth to start with that had cavities and need exposed roots filled in. I wore 3M foam earplugs and my MRI safe 30 dB ear defenders because they are the softest cups to help me with my jaw being open. The sequence was pain injection > laser/air abrasion/low speed drill > ozone > install filling > limited high speed drill to shape and finish > low speed burnishing. They also scheduled me at a time with no other chairs going next to me.

Most of it was reasonable but the high speed drill, while limited in duration, was brutal as advertised. All of this really resonates through your head, maybe even amplified by the earplugs and ear defenders. I had no choice, it was this or eventual extraction so I spent the week practicing my relaxation, positive affirmations/self talk and really got my mind right on getting through this. I was quite relaxed going in but at the high speed drill point I was thinking holy crap, that's loud. Of course at this point I didn't know how my pain hyperacusis is going to react because I was protected from most of the high pitched frequencies entering my ear canal but there was a bomb going off in my mouth with a ton of bone conduction.

He did his usual perfect job technically, I left exhausted and feeling really crappy, like I drank a tequila, got in a fight and lost.

My ear pain spiked but is on par with the worst accidental exposures, no worse. I kept telling myself that this will pass and I can control any pain and get through this.

I am at day 4 and 80% back to baseline and relieved that, as shocking as it was during the procedure, I got through it OK.

I have 6 more teeth that need attention but I am giving this a rest before we go again.

Definitely limit the high speed drill, I didn't try it without the double protection so I don't know how to rate different approaches on that issue.

BTW, I got the sense that the pain injection helped the ear pain because the worst of it came after that wore off.

George

 

How was getting the exposed root filled in? I have a few of those, but all were done pre-tinnitus so I can't really remember how loud it was. I don't remember it being done with any loud tools, but I can't quite remember.

I'm probably going to need another one done and want to be prepared. I don't have any cavities, just damn gum recession.

 

They were both exposed roots that I left unaddressed so long that they turned into cavities and the worst one was risking the loss of the tooth. The 6 remaining are the same. The next two are mild cavities and the last 4 are just painful with certain foods.

George

 

I finished round two at the dentist today to fill the last 2 cavities in exposed roots. I have a very understanding dentist who works hard to help me. I told him today that the worst part is the high speed drill so he worked even harder this time to help. He used the laser and abrasion to the extent possible, then the low speed drill for most of the rest of it. The high speed drill was for only the last portion of shaping the filling and he throttled the speed down as much as he could.

My reaction is less than last time and not bad at all. I will continue to go to get the rest of my exposed roots filled in based on this experience.

George