Hearing Loss Connected to Old Dental Work

Maria Ann Dos Santos flew in from Brazil for evaluation and treatment for total hearing loss in her right ear. Maria completely lost her hearing in her right ear in 2017. Three years prior she started noticing a reduction in hearing but none of the medical evaluations determined a cause. Maria had a history of extensive dental restorations including crowns and a lower partial denture. On examination it was determined that Maria’s right temporal bone was rotated into external rotation. Such a distortion has the potential of crimping off the neck of the eustachian tube causing conductive hearing loss.

Treatment involved a comprehensive cranial adjustment and placement of one resin shim the thickness of a sheet of typing paper on the upper right first bicuspid crown. This minuscule amount of support immediately stabilized the patient’s temporal bones and cranium. When the temporal bone rotates due to a bite distortion, the isthmus of the eustachian tube gets crimped and results in conductive hearing loss. The patient reported an immediate reversal in her year long hearing loss. Needless to say she was a happy camper and she was very happy she made the trip.

Unfortunately dentists do not know that they do not know. When dentists restore a patient’s bite they have no way of evaluating the impact of the change they made on the tooth or teeth that they just resorted and what it is doing to the cranial bone alignment.