Dental work and tinnitus: here’s what you need to know

However, there isn’t much you can do to properly care for your teeth. Perhaps the most important part is that visit to the dentist you make every six months.
There is no arguing the fact that going to the dentist is necessary and we all should. Sometimes there is simply no other option. Fillings, cleanings, root canals, crowns, and everything in between are things only dentists can do for you. Now let’s keep in mind that you suffer from an annoying and downright debilitating condition known as tinnitus, and it can make things that much more difficult.
There are some things related to dentistry and the mouth that can cause tinnitus symptoms or make existing symptoms worse. We’re not saying you shouldn’t go to the dentist if you have tinnitus, but there are a few things to keep in mind. So when it comes to dental work and tinnitus, here’s what you need to know.

dental drills and tinnitus
One of the biggest problems for tinnitus sufferers when it comes to dental work is the drill. Many procedures in dentistry require the use of a drill. There is no way to put in a filling or do a root canal without the drill. The problem is that the drill makes a loud, high-pitched noise, which is not only annoying, but can seriously damage your hearing.
The bad thing about exercises is that wearing ear protection won’t really help. Yes, you can cover your ears all you want, but the fact is that loud drilling noise doesn’t take its toll through your ear canal; it creates sound and vibrations in the jawbones that then travel to the ears. Therefore, the damage to your ears is being caused inside your head, not from outside.
So using earplugs won’t do you any good here. The best recommendation we can give is to tell your dentist to drill in short bursts rather than one long style. This will minimize the damage done to your cochlea; It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the alternative. Piercing does not cause tinnitus, but it can make existing symptoms much worse.

Fillers and Tinnitus
There’s also a link between tinnitus and fillings, those nasty things dentists put in your teeth to remove cavities. Here we are specifically talking about amalgam fillings, which are made of silver and mercury. You may think that they are made primarily of silver, but in fact, amalgam fillings contain much more mercury than silver.
The obvious problem here is mercury, something that has been shown to cause neurological problems, mercury poisoning, and of course, death. A filling or two is usually not a big deal, but if you have more than that in your mouth, it can be a legitimate cause of worsening tinnitus symptoms. People with multiple mercury fillings in their mouths have been shown to absorb on average more mercury per day than is considered acceptable by the World Health Organization.
In other words, these fillings can cause tinnitus or simply make existing symptoms worse, which is due to the high level of mercury in your body. We’re not going to get into the exact science of things, but the bottom line is that mercury-based fillings can have an impact on tinnitus. The best thing to do is request composite resin fillings, something we would recommend regardless of tinnitus.

clench the jaw
The technical term for jaw clenching is bruxism, and it’s another thing that can cause tinnitus symptoms and make existing symptoms increase in severity. Jaw clenching can have serious effects on the nerves.
Seeing as how everything in your head is connected in one way or another, constant jaw clenching can affect the nerves in your ears. This is one of the least serious things, because the causes of the trigger usually have fairly simple solutions. At the same time, there are special treatments, such as a simple mouth guard, that can reduce the severity and appearance of clenches.

Dentistry and tinnitus: other causes
There are some other dental procedures that can cause or worsen tinnitus symptoms.
• Ultrasonic plaque removal
• Extraction of impacted wisdom teeth
• ATM
• Abscesses in the mouth

Dentists and Tinnitus
Not surprisingly, it is shown that a ridiculously high number of dentists in the world suffer from some type of hearing loss along with tinnitus. This is related to the dental drill we just talked about earlier. High-speed dental drills have been shown to cause or worsen tinnitus symptoms in the vast majority of dentists who use them on a daily basis.
A small study showed that dentists suffer from tinnitus more than twice as often as normal doctors. It is estimated that a very high percentage of dentists, between 30% and 100%, suffer or will suffer from some form of tinnitus later in their careers. It’s said that working with a dental drill all day is the equivalent of having your head next to a running gas-powered lawn mower.
The bottom line is that musicians and people who operate heavy machinery are not the only ones at risk of developing tinnitus due to their occupation. Therefore, most dental schools now require students to wear hearing protection when working with dental drills.

conclusion
When it comes to dentistry and tinnitus, things are a bit complicated. On the one hand, dental work can make the problem worse, but on the other hand, dental work is often necessary.