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Community Corner

Plum Resident Benefits From New Hearing Aid Technology

A hearing aid that uses teeth to conduct sound is restoring hearing for patients with few other options.

For about two years, Paul Getsy was pretty sure he’d never hear out of his right ear again.

Doctors didn’t know why his hearing suddenly vanished. Getsy just woke up one morning and it was gone. He tried two different steroid treatments, but neither worked. He couldn’t find a hearing aid that would make a difference.

“There really wasn’t a good one that addressed my particular problem,” said Getsy, 48, of Plum.

Somewhat ironically, Getsy worked for SoundBite Communications, providing organizations with customer communications platforms. Trying to access his company’s website one day, Getsy accidently brought up the wrong site—one that introduced him to Sonitus Medical's SoundBite Hearing System, which would eventually restore hearing in his right ear.

SoundBite, which was approved by the FDA last July, is a first-of-its-kind hearing aid designed for people with single-sided or conductive hearing loss. It works like this: a tiny microphone placed in the bad ear picks up sound, which it then sends wirelessly to a device worn over a few teeth in the back of the mouth. That device sends small vibrations through bones and teeth to the inner ears, restoring hearing.

Since Getsy had the system fitted at Allegheny General Hospital last December, he’s been able to hear most of the sound he was missing.

“It works really, really well,” Getsy said. “I would absolutely recommend it.”

According to Jennifer Davis, media communications specialist at Allegheny General, the SoundBite is applicable to a limited number of people—those with single-sided or conductive hearing loss who have one good ear and good teeth (the device doesn’t work with dentures).

But for the people who can use the system, it’s a solution to what was previously considered an often uncorrectable condition, Davis said.

“A traditional hearing aid would amplify sound,” Davis said, but that makes little difference if the ear isn’t able to transfer information to the brain.

The SoundBite doesn’t require surgery and is removable. So far, AGH has installed three, Davis said. About 200 people across the nation are using the system.

Since being fitted with the SoundBite at Allgheny General Hospital in December, Getsy said, his life has become simpler. He no longer has to turn his head to hear people speak or roll his car windows up when talking to a passenger. And he doesn't miss the awkward moments he used to have during work meetings.

“Think about it,” Getsy said during a phone call he fielded while driving. “A grown man you’ve never met shows up late at a meeting and asks you to change seats ... ‘what are you, in second grade?’”

Getsy said it took about a week for him to get used to eating with the mouth-worn device, an experience he likened to wearing braces or dentures. But he rarely takes it out when eating now, and it’s hardly an inconvenience compared to his previous coping strategies.

“I didn’t realize how much time and effort I put into compensating (for my hearing),” Getsy said. “I don’t have to worry about being in the right place.”

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