Drowning out dental noise with music?

[McHobbit]

Did anyone try this? How much did you still hear? I always thought that this is the way I'd go but alas neither my mp3 player nor my tablet seem loud enough for that purpose. I have to press the headphones deep into my ears with my fingers to tune out normal conversation and children playing/squealing 100% (so it seems to me as if nobody is speaking at all) and a drill is obviously much louder than that. I'm starting to worry that I won't be able to completely drown out that the weird numbers stuff. Or that I won't even be able to hear any of my music whatsoever during drilling because I can't get it loud enough. Of course there are ways to make things louder still, but that probably wouldn't be comfortable for my ears. And not being uncomfortable is the entire point of listening to music to begin with.

How loud would it even have to be to drown out about 90% of all noises? Even just 50? Am I just aiming too high here? That was my main coping strategy idea and I'm starting to think that it's probably useless.

I'm about to just throw in the towel and go with sedation again because this is all I got in terms of coping.

 

[lillyh]

I tired taking my MP3player and turn it up but I was so nervous I didn't even know what song I was listening to! And I was trying to hear if the dentist said anything to me or the assistant So now I just try to get through with just listening to the music they are playing.Seems like everytime I go to my appointments Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker is playing! Now everytime I hear the song I think of the dentist...LOL...

 

[Caramelteach]

I tired taking my MP3player and turn it up but I was so nervous I didn't even know what song I was listening to! And I was trying to hear if the dentist said anything to me or the assistant So now I just try to get through with just listening to the music they are playing.Seems like everytime I go to my appointments Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker is playing! Now everytime I hear the song I think of the dentist...LOL...

Lol, mine was Barry White on Friday!

 

[Caramelteach]

Did anyone try this? How much did you still hear? I always thought that this is the way I'd go but alas neither my mp3 player nor my tablet seem loud enough for that purpose. I have to press the headphones deep into my ears with my fingers to tune out normal conversation and children playing/squealing 100% (so it seems to me as if nobody is speaking at all) and a drill is obviously much louder than that. I'm starting to worry that I won't be able to completely drown out that the weird numbers stuff. Or that I won't even be able to hear any of my music whatsoever during drilling because I can't get it loud enough. Of course there are ways to make things louder still, but that probably wouldn't be comfortable for my ears. And not being uncomfortable is the entire point of listening to music to begin with.

How loud would it even have to be to drown out about 90% of all noises? Even just 50? Am I just aiming too high here? That was my main coping strategy idea and I'm starting to think that it's probably useless.

I'm about to just throw in the towel and go with sedation again because this is all I got in terms of coping.

If listening to music is what helps you, it's not useless. Xxx I would say that your headphones might not be quite up to the job. The ones I use totally drown out everything (probably not good for my hearing, but sometimes needs must!) Can you borrow some different ones from someone?

Having said that, the drills dentists use now aren't really all that loud, so it could work. Have you got a nice dentist that might let you try it out?

 

[ScaredyCanine]

I've been using my ipod, listening to podcasts, it doesn't completely drown out the drill, but I close my eyes and it gives me something else to focus on besides the drill noises and vibrations.

 

[McHobbit]

My headphones are fine for what I generally use them for but they are pretty bad really. I'll probably just buy a new pair and see how much of a difference it makes.

Caramelteach, do you ears hurt or ring after the appointments due to listening to the music? Was it still comfortable to listen to it?

ScaredyCanine I'm surprised that you even managed to hear the podcast at all with the drill running. The last time I heard a drill was about 4 years ago and it was really loud. I hope this dentist has one of the quieter ones.

 

[kitkat]

I think the idea for using music is to distract your mind by giving you another stimulus to focus on and not so much to actually "drown out" the noises. It's actually very difficult to drown out the sound because the sound is not only being conducted through air but also through bone because the tool is vibrating against the tooth at a given frequency and the vibrations are traveling through the jaw bone/skull directly to the auditory nerve which is also why it sounds so much louder in your mouth. I work in speech and hearing so that's my "nerdy-science" answer but it is very difficult if not impossible to "drown out the noise" without doing some damage to your hearing but you can train your mind to selectively attend to the music and not to the drill with some practice. I find that I am usually calmer when there is music on the radio at the office to distract my mind but it has more to do with attention not competition of sounds/volume.

 

[ScaredyCanine]

It doesn't drown out the drill, it gives me something else to focus on, I turn it really loud and close my eyes, I can hear what they are saying and make my mind focus on that, it has been working for me so far so I'm gonna keep rolling with it

 

[Caramelteach]

My headphones are fine for what I generally use them for but they are pretty bad really. I'll probably just buy a new pair and see how much of a difference it makes.

Caramelteach, do you ears hurt or ring after the appointments due to listening to the music? Was it still comfortable to listen to it?

ScaredyCanine I'm surprised that you even managed to hear the podcast at all with the drill running. The last time I heard a drill was about 4 years ago and it was really loud. I hope this dentist has one of the quieter ones.

No, no pain in my ears or anything and it was comfortable to listen to-I use Sennheiser ones, they're really good.