Do You Wear Your Hearing Aids to the Dentist or Not - and Other Places You Avoid Wearing Your HA's?

Question and Answer
#1

I have a regular 6-month dental checkup coming up in the next month or two (my first since getting my first ever HA’s) and I was wondering if it’s a good idea to wear my HA’s while getting my teeth cleaned. Was thinking that the hygienist wears a mask to avoid breathing aerosols and a slight amount of splatter falls down on the glasses that they give me to wear. While lying reclined in a dental chair, it seems like my HA mics would mostly be pointed away from such stuff and maybe not susceptible to any aerosols?

I first thought of this stuff while applying sunscreen to my face the other day. 1Bluejay did recommend Ear Gear but that seems to take a bit of work to add and remove. Easier to do nothing if others have found dental cleanings, etc., not to be a problem (the sonicator should be another issue entirely, though!).

(searched the forum and could not find any previous posts specifically addressing this possible issue - if there is a thread, point me in the right direction, TIA!)

#2

No. My hygienist talks to much so I tune her out.

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#3

Off-topic here: But a favorite flick of mine is Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier as the sort of dentist you definitely do not want to go to, wearing your HA’s or not. Although the movie may never make it to the Top 100 list of anything, Olivier’s performance in the movie helped convince me that he is one of the greats - he played in the movie and others like it late in his career supposedly for the cash but he turned in a dental performance to remember (hopefully NOT when you’re in the chair!).

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#4

I remove my hearing aids to reduce the noise pollution.

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#5

If I didn’t I would not hear the lady and have her to repeat many times.

The obvious one where you don’t is the barber.

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#6

No. I don’t wear hearing aids at dentist, barber or for chinese doctor who does acupuncture. Just no point. They can talk louder if they need to.

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#7

I take mine out…

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#8

It’s never occurred to me before to take HAs out at the dentist. Hearing instructions from the dentist would be much tougher. But in 6 years, I’ve left them in for each appointment and, as far as I know, the HAs haven’t suffered. They still work fine. The audiologist does fiddle with them a bit once a year. Maybe she clears out gunk, but doesn’t let me know about it.

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#9

I leave mine in or I would hear very well. The only place I leave them at home is when I’m going to the radiology department for any type of radiological appointment.

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#10

I would not worry for a check up and clean but would definitely take them out for any drilling due to the level of noise in close proximity to my ears.

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#11

Jim; NOTHING could be easier than slipping a pair of Ear Gear on your aids (if they are the kind with the mic unit behind the ear. These clever little “sox” have an opening on both ends, so I typically slide them right up and over the unit behind my ear. They stay in place way better than some of the other HA covers out there.

That said, I have always worn my aids (be they ITE or RIE) to the dentist! First off: y’gotta HEAR what-all they’re saying. They always start with the update on your health, and yada yada, then there’s all the chit-chat during the cleaning, and finally your next app’t.

Don’t worry about stuff getting on/in the ears. the unit behind your ear will not be exposed to any stuff; granted the mold or unit IN the ear could get an infinitesimal amount which you could always wipe down with an alcohol prep pad later.

GO FOR IT! :smile:

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#12

Take the out long enough to get haircut and to sleep.

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#13

LOL!! I wear my aids everywhere except when getting my hair washed out at the salon (and I HATE HATE HATE being that deaf!).

I have to say one of the more gratifying moments for me wearing my aids was at the acupuncturist’s. He was needling me up when my Audeo B-Direct aids “rang” (i.e., I got a phone call - from the dentist LOL - on my Samsung phone). Lying right there on the table, I touched my aids, took the call, hung up and … WOW. My acupuncturist said that was the coolest thing he’d seen. :smile:

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#14

Maybe that’s why Oticon don’t work for you very well in noisy environments. I always thought my hearing was bad, but it sounds like your hearing must be worse and perhaps this is the reason that Oticons don’t work for you. I can hear the dentist, acupuncturist etc without my aids because I am standing right next to them and most of them seem to speak loudly as they deal with the public all day long I guess.

Once in a blue moon I might have to ask someone to repeat something and occassionally I will miss some speech (but normally when I am not paying any attention as they are just waffling).

I can manage without my hearing aids unless I get someone who is really softly spoken or when I am in a noisy environment with a lot of people talking - then I need my aids.

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#15

Wow. Goes without saying: your hearing WINS over mine! I can not even hear a smoke alarm going off with my aids out - fuggedabout any kind of speech without my aids in. Such are my wooden ear-knobs.

#16

I’ve worn mine to the dentist numerous times. Thanks to radiation on my head and neck for cancer, I needed extensive dental work, bridges, caps, partials, laminations. I wore them through all this work with no concerns of splashing. Two weeks ago I had a cleaning and wore them.

I decided a few month ago to stop keeping my hair close cropped, back to my mountain bum ways, so in a year I might need a haircut. :joy: There is nothing else in my occasional medical visits where I would not wear them.

The two things that are sketchy for me are running my monster VitaMix blender (blade speed of 28,500 RPM /250 MPH for 5200 model) or my electric toothbrush. I mute the HAs when using either one.

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#17

Only place I avoid wearing my HA is when I will be IN the water. Why would you take them out for anything else, that doesn’t make sense. Maybe for an MRI, or an MMA fight… I don’t even take them out for a haircut, seems rude. I just tuck the aid into my ear or let it dangle.

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#18

The only places I don’t wear my hearing aids is in the pool or when I am asleep.

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#19

The three creeiest words in moviedom: “Is it safe?”

#20

That’s “creepiest,” I guess! :japanese_goblin::point_left: :grin: