Measurement of air-, bone- and teeth- conducted threshold levels by pure tone audiometry

When we eat some food, and when we have our teeth drilled during dental treatment, we hear the sounds transmitted in three different ways. One is air-conducted sound. The second is bone-conducted sound. The third is the sound transmitted via our teeth. We define the third sound as "tooth conducted sound." For the bone conducted auditory test, the vibrator for bone conduction is brought into contact with the mastoid behind of the ear. In this study, we measured the pure tone threshold levels of air conduction, bone conduction via mastoid and tooth conduction using an audiometer. Characterizing the sound of the tooth conduction may help to understand the discomfort of the tooth drilling sound and the satisfaction when eating food. We will report the difference of them among air conduction, bone conduction, and teeth conduction and discuss the characteristics of tooth conduction sound.