Tinnitus from Dental Hammer

[Henry55]

About 1.5 years ago, I had an ear infection and a perforated eardrum in my right ear. The hearing loss and ringing from that healed completely. I am 55 years old.

In May 2024, my dentist used a hammer on a crown attached to an implant on the right side of my jaw. She did this to try to loosen the crown, hitting it forcefully three times. This caused immediate dizziness. Later that same day, I developed tinnitus in my right ear, which I believe was caused entirely by this procedure.

My hearing was not affected, as I tested it after the dental visit. Now, I have had tinnitus in my right ear for about six months.

Can anyone help me understand how this happened? Did the dentist cause nerve damage? How could there be damage to the inner ear if there is no hearing loss? I am quite convinced that the vibrations from the dental hammer triggered my tinnitus.

Any feedback, advice on healing, or similar experiences would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Supersix]

I highly doubt that the vibration caused your tinnitus. Recently, I had some drilling done on an upper molar to replace a filling. Hearing the noise and feeling the vibration in my tooth was quite terrifying. I thought it might make my tinnitus worse, but it didn't.

Now I have to go in for a root canal on the same tooth. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[ZFire]

I highly doubt that the vibration caused your tinnitus. Recently, I had some drilling done on an upper molar to replace a filling. Hearing the noise and feeling the vibration in my tooth was quite terrifying. I thought it might make my tinnitus worse, but it didn't.

Now I have to go in for a root canal on the same tooth. I'll let you know how it goes!

Were you wearing earplugs?

 

[Henry55]

She banged on my tooth pretty hard on the same side as the ear that is now ringing. The ringing started about an hour after she hit the tooth.

 

[benjd2016]

Were you ever prescribed steroids for this? Sudden trauma can sometimes cause tinnitus, and some doctors prescribe high-dose steroids for a week, which can often help. In Germany, they administer 250 mg for three days and then stop without the need for tapering. I'm not sure if this approach would work in your case, but it has been effective in some cases when treatment was started early.