SURAT: ENT now stands for ear, nose… and teeth. For nearly two decades, 63-year-old Jaibunnisha M of Kosamba in Surat district lived in a world muffled by silence. The past 10 years had been especially isolating – even the best hearing aids failed her.She had stopped attending weddings and community events. Neighbours whispered that she’d become arrogant because her children were settled abroad. The truth: she couldn’t hear them.Then came July. A cochlear implant surgery was booked. Her radiologist daughter flew in from Dubai. Her dentist daughter stayed on standby in the US. But just before the procedure, something strange happened.‘Hearing improvement may be due to nerve decompression’ I was sitting at home when I suddenly began hearing sounds,” Jaibunnisha said. “I ran to tell my husband. We even went to our neighbour’s house to confirm it wasn’t just us.” It wasn’t.The change followed a series of dental implant procedures – full-mouth reconstruction, temporomandibular joint rehabilitation, and nerve decompression. “Her hearing improved after the dental work. It’s possible that decompressing the nerve connected to the ear had an effect,” said implant specialist Dr Rishi Bhatt.Astonished, her ENT team paused the cochlear plans. “Her audiogram shows marked improvement,” said ENT surgeon Dr Ashraf Master.From needing help for every phone call to chatting freely again, Jaibunnisha now looks forward to social functions. “My calls used to be one-way – she’d talk, we’d listen,” said her daughter Tehzeeb, a radiologist in Dubai. “Now she’s back.”Even husband Abbas – a doctor himself – was stunned. “At first, I didn’t believe her,” he said. “But we thank the almighty. The dental implant helped her hear again.”Science? Miracle in the molar? A bit of both, according to doctors. But for Jaibunnisha, it simply means she doesn’t need silence to feel dignified anymore.
