Just wanted to respond to fill in any gaps of info, as I'm in the exact same situation as you.
At first, I thought my tinnitus - new noises in my right ear - was caused by a brief noise of somebody yelling. But then it slowly came together that first, it was only a few seconds, from 4 feet away, and she didn't scream directly into either ear.
Secondly, the new ringing didn't actually begin until the following morning, quietly at first, but then it became increasingly bad as days went by and kept changing in tone. By day 5, I could barely open my mouth on the right side more than halfway. Even as I sit here, the Tylenol is wearing off and it's getting hard to so much as move my tongue to the back of my mouth because opening it is hard. The lower right side of my face has felt deeply inflamed and sore, like I got slapped, all the way into my sinus cavity. I'm getting shooting nerve pains into my right ear. The right ear tones alternate between a very pitchy whine that's on and off, a few seconds of silence before returning, a weird tinny, scratchy sound, and a higher tone underneath. Oh, and did I mention that the bottom impacted right lower wisdom tooth had tripled in size...? If I press down on the hinge point of my jaw I'll feel intolerable discomfort. Sneezing, gulping, and gargling hurt both the points where your bottom wisdom teeth grow.
I'm nervously awaiting making an oral surgery appt. tomorrow. I already have borderline severe TMJ (which doctors have blown off, unfortunately) so I second what Jay had to say about your situation. Yes, if you have an impacted wisdom tooth, it can make TMJ/TMD worse and therefore set off or worsen tinnitus. My story seems like a textbook case. I never had any sounds in my right ear prior to this disaster with my bottom right wisdom tooth.
As to why it all happened now, and not sooner, my theories are: A) in the last 3 months, I've been under immense stress due to work and the pandemic and B) to compensate for the soreness and pain in my left jaw and ear, I've been unconsciously chewing and biting down on the R side for months.
Moving on to the tinnitus and ear issues. I've had up and down/oscillating tones in my left ear since last spring, which I have noticed change with jaw movement. Well, what do you know...around the exact time the right ear and wisdom tooth began freaking out, my left ear ringing transformed and the jaw pain got way worse (not as inflamed as the right side, but definitely noticeable daily with sharp, stabbing pains). It's markedly different compared to how it was not even 10 days ago and has a higher pitch overall. The deep pains I'm getting inside my left inner ear, even as deep as what seems to be my tonsil... well, I actually got the same pains when I first experienced the ringing. Tons of NSAIDs, immediately getting a night guard, and 8 weeks of soft foods seemed to offer some improvement over the last year; it went from blaring to hard to notice unless I was in dead silence. But in the end, the regular approach to TMD clearly failed me BIG time, along with my shitty teeth.
I won't lie, I'm truly terrified of what will happen at the oral surgeon BUT at the same time I'm hopeful that he can help. The timing with my right ear is too coincidental. I also experienced zero acoustic trauma when my left ear started, so I'm hopeful that getting the left wisdom teeth extracted will reduce or reverse the dreadful tinnitus. (Seriously, if I had to map out the tones it'd look like a roller coaster - unless I manipulated my jaw/neck, in which case it made one awful symphony of humming notes, not the classic 'eee' ringing easier for habituation.)
As I mentioned, I have been keeping up with TMJ protocols, almost a full year of using the night guard, etc. but in the last eight weeks or so I've noticed classic TMJ symptoms returning... more clicking and popping in my jaw joints and ears, more tenderness in my bottom teeth, gravely noises in my left ear. I personally believe that the night guard does not remain effective for NEARLY as long as dentists advertise. For paying $390 to end up this way... well, I feel really jaded and annoyed.
You know what else is frustrating? Having seen an audiologist, 2 dentists, and an oral surgeon last year when my left ear began acting up and not having a single one say a word about wisdom teeth and tinnitus/jaw pain. Not a single mention of it. I thought a lot of people lived safely with the impacted teeth. Wrong.
This has all gotten so debilitating that I'm scheduled for Botox injections in late November, too. I will routinely get them for as long as I have to, even the rest of my life if that's what is suggested, so as long as I can live a pain- and tinnitus-free existence. Also, going to get braces as soon as I have a FT salaried job. I know that my kooky bite isn't doing me any favors, either.
TLDR: Teeth are fucking nuts, man.
@George Ablett If you're still around, this may help!
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