Teeth!

[marin2004]

Hello divers!

Among all these topics i havent found anything about problems with teeth after ascending from the depth.
I am aware of the preasure inside mouth cavity and the effect on teeth. i have many feelings of average quality,
and i wonder if anyone had troubles with lost feeling or broken tooth. is there a way to deal with this?
I cant change my teeth.


Marin

 

[Ricochet]

I think the pain is caused by blocked maxillary sinuses. It feels like the pain is coming from the molars but its actually the maxillary sinus. On the descent you equalize the sinuses and they somehow get blocked at the ascent wich results in a pain.

 

[Cornholio]

I have heard of air being forced into cavities at depth, then getting stuck in the tooth upon return to atmospheric pressure. This can result in anything from discomfort to a cracked tooth. I’ve not experienced it myself, but I’m told it’s something a dentist should be able to help with.

 

[DeepThought]

If there's some air left in the tooth when the dentist does a "filling", it might cause tooth squeeze at depth. A good dentist isn't supposed to let that happen. Though if the filling is old, I guess it can happen naturally.

I'm lucky to have no fillings at all.... so far.

As mentioned, sinus pain is also an option.

 

[Jason Billows]

Actually, you can change your teeth to some extent. If you are in fact having pain from a squeeze in the molars and not from the sinus, go see your dentist. If there's a filling there it can be redone and hopefully solve your problem.

While I haven't experienced it myself, I have heard stories of people actually having their teeth crack and/or explode in their mouth on ascent from a squeeze.

I had a rather unique problem with a tooth that I had a root canal on. When the tooth was abscessed I actually had swelling around my nose. The dentist thinks that my jaw bone has a small canal in it which allowed the infection to flow into my nose area.

After the tooth was fixed and I had the root canal I resumed diving. For quite a while I felt an aching pain in the tooth following my dives. The dentist and I came to the conclusion that when equalizing my sinuses I was also putting pressure on the tooth via this same canal that allowed the infection to spread to my nose. I haven't had the aching pain in a long time and hope it never returns.

This along with some other tooth topics were discussed in another thread over a year ago. Search and see if you can find it.

Jason