Regretting Ultrasonic Teeth Cleaning — Bad Tinnitus Spike

Hi,

Can someone help me with some advice?

I had my teeth cleaned by a dental hygienist two days ago with a ultrasonic cleaner and my somatic tinnitus on the left side of my face to my brain is so bad.

She hit my rear molars three times and the noise was so intense that I had to get to her stop.

I am now back to the level of my original onset of tinnitus almost three years ago, maybe worse.

I told the lady I suffer from tinnitus before she started - surely there are some warnings. I had never heard of this device before.

The noise in my head feels like electrical signals misfiring at a rapid rate the noise and timing of the tinnitus is even different to what it originally was.

Does anyone know if this will pass as I am not coping very well and keep tearing up due to the noise in my head. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

 

Hi Steve,

I am sorry to hear about your current situation. In the future ask for a manual cleaning and you shouldn't have these issues with dental cleanings.

I would suggest you take some magnesium supplements as well as NAC, after discussing taking them with your doctor. They have been proven to reduce noise induced trauma.

You mentioned it being somatic. Could the way your neck was positioned in the chair may have aggravated your somatic tinnitus? Somatic and noise induced tinnitus are two different things, which is why I think sound may not be the only culprit here. It very well can be, but I am just looking at other causes.

How does your neck feel? Does it feel stiff or painful? This may contribute to your somatic tinnitus.

I would try to relax and give it some more time for it to settle. If you feel the need to, you could go see your ENT who may do a hearing test and see if you have had a threshold shit and prescribe medicine accordingly.

 

Hello Jack Straw,

Thanks for your reply.

My neck has no pain just the ringing in my head is unbearable. I have never had it this bad. Excuse my ignorance but what does NAC stand for?

I was thinking of asking my doctor if prednisolone may help.

I really wish I knew the risks before agreeing to this cleaning method. If only we could turn back time.

 

Yes I only ask for a manual clean. It’s distressing the everyday things in life we now need to be aware of in order to protect our ears.

 

NAC is a supplement. N-acetyl-cysteine.

 

Thank you for your replies.

I am sending a complaint letter to the Dentist as I find it disturbing that they gave me this treatment after me telling them I suffer from tinnitus before they started the treatment .

The letter and an attached document I found on the internet highlight the risk of auditory damage from ultrasonic dental cleaners to staff and patients and may save some other people with tinnitus from heightened risk of further damage.

 

Hey Steve, I had the same experience as you, though I didn't get the assistant cleaning my teeth to stop, this procedure ended up being 45 minutes, of which many minutes were spent hearing that loud squealing whenever she touched my molars and wisdom teeth. The next day my hearing dropped by a noticeable amount, and it hasn't recovered since. I would suggest you take NAC as well and get a hearing test to see how your hearing is. Luckily you stopped the cleaning before it could finish so the damage was not as bad as it could have been.

 

Hi Yoshi, I too went for about 40 minutes, she must of hit my molars 3 or 4 times until I could not take it anymore and said no more. I dropped a complaint letter, some literature on tinnitus and hyperacusis in to the dentists surgery today. Hopefully they may get a better understanding of Tinnitus etc and it may save someone from what I just went through.

I am off to the doctors tomorrow and requesting an ENT appointment.

I am so upset as I had never even heard of this devise before and I was doing the best I had in 2.5 years. Now I am back where it all began. Sleepless nights, valium and tears.

How long ago did you have yours cleaned?

 

40-45 minutes of ultrasonic cleaning? I had my teeth cleaned recently, forgot to ask for manual cleaning, and the ultrasonic part was only a few minutes. By the time I remembered, it was almost over.

Sorry to hear that anybody was hurt by this.

 

Had the cleaning two years ago Steve, similarly to you I was happier than I'd ever been so I thought nothing of the cleaning at first.

 

Is there potential for damage if you don't have tinnitus or hearing loss?

The device is the most common treatment for cleaning teeth and it's what dental offices automatically use unless you request manual cleaning.

 

@PeteJ -- My understanding is dental hygienist practitioners who regularly do ultrasonic cleaning have a relatively high incidence of tinnitus.

 

Hi am suffering so bad with this spike. Just got back from the doctors, he has placed me on 25 mg prednisolone per day for a week then reducing over the next two weeks. I also have a referral to an ENT specialist. I really hope this is not permanent or I will join the want out line. Ultrasonic cleaning, if only I knew or the hygienist knew the precautions. Everyone beware.

 

How are you doing now Steve? Did the spike fade away? If so how long did it take?

 

Damn I'm not a doctor or a dentist and I could have told her that this should have been a no-go.

Orgs like the ATA and BTA fart around and pretend like they are doing stuff and this is exactly the type of thing they should be advising the medical community on.