The One, Select · Dentistry
Custom Filtered Earplugs for Dentists, Hygienists and Assistants
Set up for the operatory. Molded to your ears, The One is designed to turn down the handpiece, scaler and HVE while your patient's voice still comes through. For dentists, hygienists and assistants. Home impression kit included.
- 9 dB and 15 dB with The One Select. 9 for exams and consults, 15 for preps and ultrasonic scaling. Standard includes one filter set.
- Low-profile half shell. Soft platinum-cure silicone, designed to sit clear of loupe temples, headlamp straps and mask loops.
- Made to last 7 to 10 years. Made by hand in the USA, with a 30-Day Fit Warranty: if the fit is off, we adjust it.
- Made in the USA. Molded, hand-finished and inspected in the USA.
- Home impression kit included
- Kit arrives in 3 to 5 business days
- 30-day fit warranty
Built to order · SKU BE-ONE-SEL
Five-star reviews from Trustpilot
What customers say
The best motorcycle earplugs ever!
The personal touch from Stone and the rest of the folks at BigEar is what sets them apart. I ordered “The One” motorcycle custom molded earplugs and also ordered a pair for my wife. The communication in sending the ear mold kit was excellent (the labeling and instructions with the mold kit are great as well). They communicated when they received our ear molds and sent our molds off to the lab for making our custom earplugs along with the timeframe when we could expect the finished plugs. At first I tested the earplugs in the living room while all 4 of my sons were playing…loudly! The amount of their vocal noise I could hear through the plugs worried me at first. Then I thought “Hey, the filters are meant to block sound outside of the vocal spectrum…it would be a better test to go ride my motorcycle.” Well, I can definitely say that these plugs ROCK! I don’t have to turn my Sena Headset volume up any louder than I would without hearing protection and can communicate with my riding team clearly and without having to shout. All other noises are muffled to a comfortable and tolerable level while still being perceptible and keeping me aware of my surroundings. These are compared to the Pinlock filtered earplugs I used prior which required me to crank the volume on my headset to the max to hear anyone and I yelled often because I could barely hear anything. The BigEar “One” earplugs are a real treat! The lanyard makes it easy to remember to reinsert my plugs prior to taking off after any stops on the bike, something I’d forget to do often after putting my pin lock plugs away. These have become my favorite motorcycle accessory. I don’t ride without using them now!
BrandonApril 2024On Trustpilot (opens in a new tab)
How it works
Four simple steps, start to finish
Every set is made from impressions of your own ears. You take them at home with the kit we send you. Watch the process →
Step 1: Order
Choose your options and check out. Your home impression kit is included.
Step 2: Receive your kit
It arrives 3 to 5 business days after we receive your order. Watch your email for the tracking number.
Step 3: Make your impressions
About 15 to 20 minutes at home, with a video that walks you through every step. You can do it yourself; a second person makes it easier.
Step 4: Send them back
Pack them in the same box and use the prepaid return label. We start building the day they arrive.
Then we hand-build your set in 40 business days from the day your impressions reach our lab and ship it to your door, with a 30-day fit warranty. If the fit is off, we adjust it.
Watch the kit, step by stepQuestions about the kit
What if my impression doesn’t come out right?
We check every impression before we build. If one needs to be redone, we send you another kit at no charge. The kit also has extra material in case you want a second try.
Do I need someone to help me?
No. You can take your impressions yourself by following the video. A second person makes it easier, because they can see into your ear, but you don’t need one.
When will my order arrive?
Your kit arrives 3 to 5 business days after we receive your order. Once your impressions reach our lab, we hand-build your set in 40 business days and ship it to your door.
Already have impressions? If we made your last pair, choose “Big Ear already has my impressions” at checkout. From an audiologist? Mail them to Big Ear Inc, 101 Durden Park Row, Blythewood, SC 29016.
The clinical case
The risk is real. Almost nobody protects against it.
- 35%of dentists reported hearing problems in the ADA’s 2021 Dentist Well-Being Survey, and 42% of those aged 40 and over.
- 3%of dentists in the same survey said they use hearing protection. Another 9% said sometimes.
- 74%of experienced hygienists who named a barrier to earplugs said it was communicating with patients. Only 5% wore earplugs with ultrasonic scalers.
Sources: ADA Health Policy Institute, 2021 Dentist Well-Being Survey; Lazar et al., J Dent Hyg, 2015. Dental hearing protection, with sources
The trade-off
Until now, you had to choose: the tunnel or the noise.
Foam closes you in. Earmuffs wall you off. Wearing nothing leaves your ears to the drill. The One was built to end that trade.
Spatial hearing
Hear the room, not a tunnel.
You place every sound with both ears and the folds of your outer ear. Cover those folds and sound loses its direction: in studies of hearing protectors, earmuffs disrupted localization more than earplugs, and researchers concluded that earplugs should be preferred when localization matters. Too much reduction costs you as well: a U.S. Army laboratory report warns that over-protection lowers speech intelligibility and situational awareness.
The One sits in the ear canal, leaves your outer ear free and takes off only what the room calls for, 9 or 15 dB. It is designed to keep the operatory readable: your assistant at your left, a patient’s quiet “that hurts”, the front desk down the hall. No hearing protector is perfectly transparent. This is the closest we know how to build.
Sources: ADA Health Policy Institute, 2021; J Dent Hyg, 2015; Front Psychol, 2022; Hum Factors, 2022; Sensors, 2021; Front Neurosci, 2014; U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, 2016. Full references
The only one you’ll ever need
Hear the world. Or shut it out. Same earplug.
The One is a bespoke earplug with two filters, built to keep you aware of everything around you while it protects your ears. You choose how much sound comes through. And when you want it all gone, two small plugs turn it into a full stop earplug. One pair for every situation, so you never buy another earplug again.
Most filtered earplugs have one filter. The One has two.
A single-filter earplug
Often a similar price. One job.
- One filter turns everything down, so the world can still sound muffled and far away.
- Many people still feel plugged up, like they are hearing from inside a tunnel.
- One-size tips or a generic shell that work loose and get sore over the day.
- When it gets louder, you reach for a different earplug.
The One: a dual-filter system
Only from Big Ear.
- Non-linear filter in the canal keeps you hearing where sound comes from, without the tunnel feeling, and closes down on sudden loud sound.
- Flat filter you choose, 9 to 30 dB, swapped in seconds.
- Full stop when you want quiet, with the Solid Plug.
- Bespoke fit, molded from your own impressions in soft silicone you can wear for hours.
Mode 1 · Hear the world, safely
Swap the filter in seconds
The flat filter sits in the face of each earplug. Pull it out, press another one in. No tools, and nothing to charge.
Set it for where you are
Filters come in five levels, 9 to 30 dB. Pick the level for the place you are in, and change it again when you leave.
The non-linear filter: your safety valve
Inside the canal of every pair is a second filter. It lets everyday sound through, then closes down when sound spikes to a harmful level, like a gunshot or a sudden blast, and opens again when it passes.
Five filter levels. One pair.
- 9 dBDental offices, quiet work and conversation
- 15 dBRestaurants, commuting and busy everyday noise
- 20 dBConcerts, live music and loud crowds
- 25 dBMotorcycle riding, skydiving and pilots on the walk-around
- 30 dBShooting sports, loud facilities and extreme noise
Mode 2 · Turn it into a Full Stop earplug
Close the non-linear port
Press the small Non-Linear Filter Plug into the tip of the canal. That closes off the safety valve.
Swap the filter for the Solid Plug
Pull the flat filter out of the face and press in the clear Solid Plug. Your filtered earplug is now a full stop earplug.
Filtered when you need to hear. Full stop when you need quiet.
Add the Solid Plug ($15) and the Non-Linear Filter Plug ($2.50) when you order. Pull them out and you are back to hearing the world around you.
Bespoke
Made for one person at a time.
Every pair starts with impressions of your ears, taken at home with the kit we send you. A technician in our USA lab hand-casts your left and right earplug separately in soft platinum-cure silicone, then fits your filters.
It seats deep and moves with your ear, so you can wear it for hours. No one else has your ears, and no one else gets your earplugs.
One pair. Any use.
- Motorcycle riders
- Skydivers
- Musicians
- Dentists and hygienists
- Pilots, under the headset and on the walk-around
- Shooters and hunters
- Marching band
- Sound-sensitive ears
- Concerts and sports
- Loud jobs
Buy it once. Wear it for years.
Molded to your ears in soft platinum-cure silicone and built to last 7 to 10 years. The One Standard comes with one filter set. The One Select comes with two, so you can switch between your two most-used places.
Hand-built in the USA
Made for your ears alone.
Not assembled overseas, not drop-shipped, not rushed. One pair at a time, for one set of ears at a time. We are proud of that, and we think you can hear the difference.
The Big Ear difference
Molded to your ear. Each one, individually.
We take a separate impression of your left and right ear, because they aren’t the same, then build each plug in our own soft platinum-cure silicone, refined over 20 years of customer feedback. Painters pay more for artist-grade oils because the result is better; soft silicone is the same kind of choice. It moves with your ear when you talk, chew or turn your head, so it seals better and never presses the way a hard shell can.
Asymmetric ears? That’s exactly what custom is for. We build the fit to your shape, not a universal plug to everyone’s.
How it works
Two filters. No electronics. Patented.
Most hearing protection makes you pick between hearing and safety. The One does not, because it runs two analog filters at once, with no electronics and no batteries.
The first is a flat-attenuation filter, and it sits on the outer face. Foam is the problem it solves. Foam swallows the high frequencies far more than the lows, so voices and music turn to mud. A flat filter turns the whole world down evenly instead, like a dimmer switch for sound. Everything keeps its natural balance, just quieter and safe. The flat filters swap in seconds, from 9 to 30 dB, so one pair covers a quiet room or a loud flight line with no new mold.
The second is a non-linear filter, and it lives in the canal on every pair we make. Think of it as a mechanical safety valve. It stays open for everyday sound, so you hear and talk normally, then closes almost instantly the moment sound spikes to a dangerous level, and opens again when it passes. No delay, no power, no app. For even more control, a non-linear hole plug closes the port completely when you want the deepest protection.
Run together, molded into a shell shaped to your exact ears, that two-part system does what no foam plug and no single-filter plug can. It keeps you aware and protects you from the sudden, damaging sound at the same time, tuned to the exact level you need. It is patented.
Real customers, real fits
Fits you’ll actually wear.
Photos from our customers, labeled by shell size, so you can see how a half shell and a full shell sit in a real ear.
What customers say
Worth getting right.
“These are easily the most comfortable set of earplugs I have ever used and the sound transmission is excellent while still providing the protection from excessive noise levels.”
Made to order, made to fit
Listen for a lifetime.
Because every pair is molded to you, it’s made to order, not pulled off a shelf. You take a quick impression at home with our simple kit, we build your fit, and it ships to your door. Backed by our 30-day fit warranty.
The detail
One filter is a compromise. The range is not the concert, and the shop floor is not the cockpit, but a single setting treats them all the same. So you end up carrying the wrong protection, or none at all.
The One Select gives you two. The same custom-molded soft-silicone shell, built to a separate impression of each ear, with two interchangeable flat-filter sets you swap in seconds. Shut down the machines today, open it up for the show tonight, and keep the exact same perfect fit through both.
Two worlds, one pair that was actually made for your ears.
Hand-built in the USA, one pair at a time, and backed by our 30-day fit warranty.