Tinnitus from Dental Infection (Rant to Some, This Is Me Being Calm!)

I had root canal treatment started in April 2018. Restarted in January 2020 as they 'forgot' to finish the original and the tooth cracked / temp filling + cotton lint? Opened in January 2020.

Blatant infection of the root on x-ray. Tinnitus started a few days after the root canal (again unfinished).

Doctor claims it's just age-related hearing loss that started the tinnitus the morning of the 16th January. As if my ears suddenly decided a tipping point meant a super loud tinnitus is needed. All diagnosed with a phone call and with zero interest in other symptoms - tingling/numbness of ear/area, fluttering/tickling in ear, pressure waves radiating from ear, vertigo etc

Dentist insisted no infection of the tooth as it did not hurt or show infected gum tissue, till I demanded an x-ray and all I heard from behind me was "Oh my God, how the...".
Claims dental work can't contribute to tinnitus, infections can't spread from tooth to tooth , so by default can't spread... seems to think having a periapical tooth abscess on the half finished root canal is ok as the NHS guidelines currently state not to finish root canals if no pain (COVID-19).
In my opinion, it's not even half finished if the tooth is now infected!

Root infection -> sinus inflammation/infection -> Eustachian Tube infection/inflammation.

It could also be the root infection infecting surrounding tissue / bone.

It could also be infecting blood vessels in the area - my heart rate is 90+ resting but a course of antibiotics had it resting back in the 60's - diastolic went from high 80s/90s back into 60s/70s - both returning to high after antibiotics ended and infection returned.

I'm not paid £100k + a year to work for the NHS and lock my doors when there is a health pandemic (GPs and dentists) but I'd bet a vast proportion of tinnitus is related to undetected infections resulting from dental, sinus or Eustachian Tube issues.

Tooth infections at the roots do not have to be painful, stink, show obvious distress to gums. It can also be low grade enough that it's not causing major issues such as leading to sepsis etc, but can be a source of constant infection AND SO inflammation of the tissues surrounding the ear AND can be the cause of tinnitus.

A course of Metronidazole antibiotic (that work anaerobically) 2 weeks ago lowered my tinnitus to near zero levels. Heart rate dropped 20+ per min, blood pressure dropped from 140+/85+ to 120/70 (ish) - if an infection is inflaming around my ear 'stuff' and my BP/HR is high so forcing through an inflamed area guess what might happen?!

The antibiotic course ended - root canal is unfinished on a cracked tooth so infection returns as do symptoms from above paragraph. Dentist and doctor would much prefer me to believe it's age-related hearing loss...

NO! AGE-RELATED HEARING LOSS MIGHT MAKE THE ABOVE MORE PRONE TO CAUSING TINNITUS AS A SYMPTOM OF THE UNDERLYING ISSUE.

Not one person alive has tinnitus from age-related hearing loss. not one! Impossible.

No really, it's impossible - else everyone with age-related hearing loss would have tinnitus.

Like smoking does not cause cancer, otherwise every smoker would have cancer. Smoking might (ok definitely does) make cancer more likely because of the damage smoking does to cells. But it's the damage to cells that cause the cancer.

Age-related hearing loss MIGHT make other issues more prone to triggering tinnitus but is not the direct cause, otherwise anyone with age-related hearing loss would have it. Stop peddling rubbish because it's too much effort to think, go check and fix underlying problem (aka stop smoking to stop cell damage to stop a higher chance of cancer)!

Message to dentists
NOT ALL INFECTIONS CAUSE TOOTH PAIN, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE KILLED THE NERVE DOING FILLINGS/ROOT CANALS - YOU NEED TO CHECK - X-RAYS ARE NOT EXPENSIVE, ESPECIALLY NOW WHEN THE X-RAY FILM IS DIGITAL AND REUSABLE!

BACTERIA DOES NOT CARE WHERE IT WAS BORN AND WILL HAPPILY MOVE GIVEN THE CHANCE. THEY DO NOT HAVE SOME INBUILT INTELLECT OR REMORSE THAT MAKES THEM REALISE THEY HAVE MOVED AWAY FROM WHERE THE INFECTION STARTED AND SO TURN BACK.

 

Informative post, very interesting.

Yeah, I think I’m experiencing this. I had an X-ray, severe infection with very little pain in the tooth area, the nerve is dead. The dentist said infection is in the sinus area which would explain a lot.

I’ve had severe face pain for the last couple of years, headaches, blurry vision, jaw pain along with the ear crap (pain pressure constantly worsening tinnitus and hearing) plus a bunch of other major health issues that I won’t go into.

The dentist said this could have been an issue for years now which is annoying. I’ve been to the dentist a few times, never caught until recent X-ray. Going to have the tooth drilled out tomorrow, very nervous but also looking forward to getting this taken care of.

Side note: I need my wisdom teeth out, this may be contributing to my issues as well.

 

Thanks for your story!

I have been suffering from tinnitus quite acutely for over a year. I’ve had it mildly for quite some time before that. I’ve been on a huge journey trying to cure it.

A brief list includes. 2 useless ENTs, emergency at the hospital, hearing tests, craniosacral therapy (amazing!), massage therapy (also amazing!), sound apps, Ayurvedic oils and herbs, sleeping pills, acupuncture, TMJ treatments with procaine injections, dental splints, meditation, yoga, it goes on and on.

I’ve had a break through (at least I’m cautiously optimistic).

Last week I had a scheduled routine teeth cleaning appointment scheduled. Instead of getting an X-ray I chose to pay more and get a 3D cone beam scan done of my whole jaw. Actually I was hoping it could include my ears as I feel a fullness and fluttering and often pressure changes which change the pitch of my tinnitus. I didn’t get to see my ears but my scans were examined by a specialist who called me a few days later with what he found.

Incredibly he noticed an infection below the root of my lower left back molar which had a crown on it. No pain. Some discomfort chewing hard food at times. Nothing major.

And he noticed I had an infected jaw cavitation from a wisdom tooth that healed over leaving a pocket of puss from over 30 years ago!

Aside from tinnitus primarily on my left side I have other symptoms of small skin rashes from my feet to calves, thighs, back, chest.

Anyway, I had the surgery done yesterday. They removed my molar, cleaned out down to the bone all the infection under my tooth and where my wisdom tooth cavitation was.

I can’t tell you how much the sense of relief has been. My mouth is swollen and a bit sore, but it’s like my body is free from working so hard to fight the low grade infections. Under my molar was quite angry I was told.

One day later, today, my tinnitus is noticeably quieter. I’m hoping it drops more once the inflammation quiets down. Another immediate result is I woke up this morning and my skin stopped itching. The rashes were all calm. They are all healing.

I can’t believe what an impact dental infection can have on the body. I’ve heard of infected root canals causing heart disease and breast cancer.

I’m amazed at how ignorant most dentists are. I went to a biological dentist and they were amazing. He said a regular dentist would have definitely just drilled out the tooth and performed a root canal. Missing the jaw bone infections below.

I hope this story helps someone. It’s been a long time in hell.

Thanks.

 

Hi @Davideo -- Thanks much for your informative post; it's certainly helpful for me. I believe I have something similar going on, and need to develop a plan to try to get to the bottom of things. Do you know how easy or difficult it is to find a dentist who can do a 3D cone beam scan done of the whole jaw? -- Thanks!

BTW, I'm looking into buying a medical grade ozone machine, which I've heard can do wonders for eliminating all kinds of oral infections. Not sure if it would go deep enough to address a deep cavitation. Have you heard anything about ozone therapy from your holistic dentist?

P.S. You may want to check this out: -- Diagnosis Unknown - Story of CFS Recovery

 

Hi guys,

These are genuinely interesting stories to me. I began suffering from somatosensory tinnitus last November which has gradually got worse. I can change the noise, which is a loud hissing in both ears - although worse on the left side, by pressing on different parts of my jaw. If I look up or stretch my jaw it becomes much louder and then quieten down for about a minute before getting louder again.

I have had a lot of dental work - deep fillings over the last two years and wonder if the two are connected.

I’m wondering if a simple course of antibiotics might make a difference? Maybe there is an infection that no one has spotted? I am trying to get my doctor to refer me to maxillofacial.

I wonder, how did you find out about a 3-D cone beam x-ray? This seems like the answer…

My dentist now tells me that one tooth needs root canal work. Somewhat anxious about this – will it make things better or worse?

Thanks again.

 

Hi @howrob -- I think your concerns are totally valid, and would strongly recommend you look into ozone therapy from a holistic dentist as a possible alternative. I think it's highly likely he could give you a number of alternatives to consider (such as chlorine dioxide) before going down the extreme route of doing a root canal. If you haven't heard of the Weston Price Foundation, I'd strongly suggest you check into it as well, as it describes very well the potential dangers of root canals. Here's a blurb from some reading I did a number of years ago.

"Dr. Weston Price, a renowned dental research specialist, observed many patients with crippling degenerative diseases who did not respond to treatment. He suspected infected root canal teeth to be the culprit. He developed a testing method that revealed the presence of infection in a tooth. By implanting a root filled tooth from a patient under the skin of a laboratory animal, usually a rabbit, he found that in almost every case the animal would develop the same disease as the patient, lose weight, and often times would die.

Later, Dr. Price found he could embed small pieces of the root instead of the entire tooth, or pulverize the teeth and inject the powder and cause the same results. Eventually, he found he could culture the bacteria found in a root filled tooth and inject the toxins from it into the laboratory animal and reproduce the disease from the toxins alone. It is important to note that when he implanted sterile objects or uninfected natural teeth, such as those removed for orthodontic purposes, no adverse health effects resulted.

Dr. Price found many types of degenerative diseases, including endocarditis, other heart diseases, kidney and bladder diseases, arthritis, rheumatism, mental diseases, lung problems and other degenerative diseases could be transferred to laboratory animals. He also found that a large percentage of patients recovered from their illnesses after the root filled teeth were extracted.

The primary bacteria in root canals found by Dr. Price included streptococcus, staphylococcus, and spirochetes. He found 90 percent of bacteria in the teeth that produced the patients' acute diseases in the animals were streptococcus, and 65.5 percent of the time they belonged to the fecalis family. Bacteriologists today have confirmed that Price's discoveries were accurate."​

 

Hi @Lane and @howrob,

With regards to finding where you can find a dentist who has a cone beam scanner, unfortunately I can’t be much help unless you live in Vancouver, BC where I am. I’m sure a dentist who has one would advertise the fact they offer that service.

Regarding ozone, I don’t think it would penetrate deep enough to resolve an infection. After my surgery to remove the infection I had, the dentist sterilized the sockets with ozone then filled the holes with a plasma made from white blood cells from my own blood which they extracted before they began the procedure. They then stitched them up. This aids in healing and preventing dry sockets.

Regarding antibiotics for infected teeth, it’s my understanding if there isn’t a blood supply to the infection the antibiotics won’t help. Removing the cause is the solution.

Wishing you all the best in finding a 3D cone beam scan provider who also knows how to read the results.

Thanks.

 

@Davideo, thank you for sharing. I can only dream of having those kinds of resources to explore all avenues. Maybe one day? Thank you for sharing your quest and please keep sharing how you are doing. G-d bless and pray for better treatments or a cure.

Ken

 

Thanks guys. It offers some comfort to know that others such as yourselves have also been through this. It just amazes me that there has been so little useful research into something which is really quite commonplace.

I began believing my problem originated in my neck and saw a chiropractor to no avail. I then began to consider the idea of TMJ. But now I am wondering if it is more of a dental issue as my dentist has been drilling very deep into three of my teeth. I will see what happens next month when I visit him again.

I do have a feeling of trepidation. Appreciate all your feedback and comments.

Howrob

 

This website was created by a man (Ian) who completely recovered from devastating ME/CFS by tracing his problems to oral infections. It has a wealth of information in it that would likely be helpful for anybody looking at the connection between their tinnitus and a variety of oral issues.

 

I agree with you.