Julie, thank you for replying and letting me know about HLAA. I have to say, though, it's a little upsetting to me that you think "something was ready to pop". I guess I am unable to convey how painfully loud and "violent" the noise (screeching really) was. I mean, if I'd been shot with a gun and showed you a photo of the damage I don't think you would say "something was ready to pop". I was hearing perfectly clearly before this. That noise was so loud I really don't think it would have mattered who this happened to or the condition of their hearing. It would have done terrible damage. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. I guess it's hard for anyone who hasn't experienced what I experienced it to believe it's possible. It's just so far out of what I would have imagined possible I'm not sure I would have believed it myself if someone told me this happened to them. I've had crown work done before, by a different dentist, and never experienced any noise in my ears. I mean, obviously when a dentist works on you if you have normal hearing you're going to hear what going on, but normally most of what you hear is from sound waves coming into your ears from the outside. In this instance it wasn't the sound coming through the air but noise/vibrations being transmitted to my ears through my skull. This was noise on a level I just can't describe. It's like it was inside my head. Anyway I'm an idiot for letting it happen. I don't know what happened to my thinking and judgment while it was happening.