QUIET Electric Dental Drills — Instead of Traditional Air-Powered Drills

[Lane]

My wife went to the dentist this past week and had her dental work done using a quiet electric drill instead of a traditional noisy air-powered one. It happened quite by accident, as they only had one electric drill in the practice, and it was located in a different room than the one she had originally been scheduled for.

She said it was so quiet that the sound of the water splashing and the suctioning that typically accompany dental procedures was actually louder than the drill itself. I was pretty amazed, as I had not seen any mention of electric drills on this site before. But it is certainly something I imagine most of us would want to know about.

I did a quick search and came across a website for a dentist promoting the use of electric drills. For the record, the website is for Lane Center for Advanced Dentistry — no connection whatsoever! His introduction is below:

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Quiet Dental Drills
New Electric Handpieces

The sound of a dental drill has few admirers. It can even add to the fears and anxieties people experience when they plan a trip to the dentist. -- At the Lane Center for Advanced Dentistry, we use the latest electric handpieces.

Until recently, electric dental drills were simply too heavy and bulky to use comfortably. They often broke down and were expensive to repair. -- Today, new technology allows for light-weight, reliable electric handpieces. The benefits to you include:

• A quieter experience many patients appreciate
• Less time in the chair (electric handpieces are faster to work with)
• Better results – making many treatments safer and more effective

Some have called the new electric dental drills "a Renaissance in Dentistry." Electric handpieces simply put more power and precision in the hands of your dentist, while offering a faster and quieter experience for you.

 

[shasta0863]

@Lane, does your wife have noise-induced tinnitus? Do you know the name of the device?

I'm scared because I need dental work. I cannot, in good conscience, allow any drilling. I know I would not survive it afterward. My tinnitus and ears are that bad. Even minor loud noises have caused permanent worsening for me. I just cannot go through with it.

I wonder if this device is truly much quieter. The biggest issue for me is bone conduction, especially how vibrations travel from the tooth to the inner ear. That is what scares me the most.

 

[Lane]

Does your wife have noise induced tinnitus at all?

@shasta0863 -- She has relatively mild antibiotic induced tinnitus from many years ago. She's never had a problem with normal air-powered drills, but she could hardly believe how much quieter the electric one was. Since you're so nervous about this, I would try making a separate visit to a dental office to hear first hand just how loud it is. If you think it might work, then make sure other precautions are taken as well, such as doing intermittent drilling.

 

[Baker]

Is there more information on this? I've got chipped teeth and so will have to get dental work done. I'd like to go to a place in TN that uses instruments that are quiet. Anyone know of such places? Or how to find them, like through a specialist group?

Thanks.

 

[Eric N]

@Lane, does your wife have noise-induced tinnitus? Do you know the name of the device?

I'm scared because I need dental work. I cannot, in good conscience, allow any drilling. I know I would not survive it afterward. My tinnitus and ears are that bad. Even minor loud noises have caused permanent worsening for me. I just cannot go through with it.

I wonder if this device is truly much quieter. The biggest issue for me is bone conduction, especially how vibrations travel from the tooth to the inner ear. That is what scares me the most.

Hey @shasta0863, what did you end up doing?