Sharing My Experience with Dentist

So as I was driving to my first dentist appointment since I got tinnitus I contemplated that I never checked if Novocaine shot or dentist drills have impact on tinnitus. Needless to say, I walked in their pretty rattled.

For those who have concerns about pending dental work I will report that I am no worse then when I came in. I also have extreme anxiety for dentistry. Not because I am worried about pain (usually it's completely painless), but because I have issue with sinuses, and laying flat in the chair makes me swallow a lot, and it interferes with dentist's work. My dentist is really really good but does not have much patience.

In summary, anxiety didn't make my tinnitus worse, nor did the shot or the drill. I had cotton ball in my ears. It is a 100% placebo, but helped me through it.

 

I have had 2 fillings in the past two weeks. For the first one the drill was used for about 90 seconds on and off. The second one for around 50 seconds on and off. No effect on t.

 

Considering that there's so many people with T, some estimates claim the percentage is as high as 15% of the population, and of course there's many people with hearing problems as well, some of whom have T in addition, routine dental care has to be relatively safe for most people's ears. That being said, I had the hygienist forgo the ultrasonic cleaning, the last time I had my teeth cleaned. She did it manually, which works fine. People with a pacemaker can't have ultrasonic cleanings, so dental hygienists can just as well accomodate us this way, if we ask them to.

 

Hmm... Yeah, that ultrasonic cleaning was actually a bit annoying. I didn't even consider to ask to skip it. Will know for next time.

 

And the worst part is that sound travels better through denser medium meaning that earplugs wouldn't save us from noise damage as the instruments' vibrations would just be conducted through the skull into the inner ear.

 

I agree, but I really don't know what is safe for already damaged ears. There really have been no studies on the topic (who could do one ethically?), and every expert I've asked couldn't really answer the question. I do think for dental hygienists (especially the ones that work cramped offices with multiple chairs next to each other) are probably at risk for occupational hearing loss.

 

I read that at least one dentist developed tinnitus from working with ultrasonic equipment, but this probably took years. Before this type of equipment can be approved, I'm sure that they test the implements thoroughly with animals for safety assurance, and whether it's mice,or another creature, they probably have ears that are more sensitive than our own.

 

From my experience, industry doesn't care about their employees, and safe decibel levels are based on very outdated knowledge about noise induced hearing loss. They do, however, have to prove safety and efficacy for patients.



Even given the quietest scalers and the very lax OSHA hearing guidelines, given a time weighted exposure of 83 dB for an 8 hour day for years some people will likely develop hearing loss. The thing I find even more concerning is that frequencies above 10kHz really aren't taken into consideration because of the way decibels are weighted and hearing loss above that range is rarely ever noted.

 

I need gum cleaning and the guy was using a scaler. I told him that, it was way too loud and I stopped the procedure. I didn't have my good ear plugs either (forgot to take them). It was way too loud and i cannot risk losing more of my hearing.

 

I found a hygienist that has a kid with hyperacusis (from autism). She has been super understanding of my hearing condition. She has her own private room and I noticed she was even careful to shut the door quietly when leaving the room.

 

The guy that was doing my procedure started to chuckle, when I told him that it was loud. I told him in a firm voice, that I don't find it funny at all.....he's smirk quickly faded

I need to get this procedure done, so I hope my good ear plugs make a difference..If not i'll stop it again.

 

I think earmuffs would be better for the scaler than earplugs. You don't get the same occlusion effect with earmuffs. The problem is the sound is being generated from inside your mouth, so it's still going to be a little loud even with hearing protection.

 

Are there any particular ear muffs, you recommend? I always use ear plugs.

 

I like the peltor x5a. They are bulky, but I don't care.

 

Fishbone, gum cleaning can be done manually, it is very quiet for your ears and less agresive for your gums. Why don’t you ask your hygienist to do it so?

 

@Alue @fishbone I have Peltor X5A and they block out noise really well with a tight fit, but that causes dental drill sound to feel loud in my ears. When I use my Howard Leight blocking headphones at the dentist, I don't have sounds in my ears as loud. The reason probably is that the HL headphones don't block sound as well. So maybe headphones that don't have strong blocking qualities give better balance.

 

Has anyone tried Bose headphones at the dentist? While wearing them, I do not notice internal noises - like my voice - are as loud versus earmuffs or earplugs. They will obviously not block all noises, but I am wondering if they would at least tone down the drill without making internal sounds overwhelming. Kind of like @Greg Sacramento mentioned.

 

Interesting. Drilling and sonic scaling might be different. I've heard from others that the ear muffs help for the scaling, but not the drilling.

 

I have the feeling this guy didn't know you are skilled in martial arts @fishbone, otherwise he wouldn't have found your sensitivity to sound funny in the first place. Some people can be so uncaring...