Severe Tooth Pain After 45ft Dive

[adamp69]

hey, I'm a new diver. this was my first open water dive since completing my open water course last weekend. i was diving yesterday with a diver with aprox 20 dives. we did our first dive, a shore dive, with a max depth of about 45 feet. total bottom time of 43 mins. nearing the end of the dive, my friend lost his bearings and signaled me to surface, from about 25 ft. we surfaced, got our bearings and descended again, heading back to shore. as i descended, i started to feel some pain in a tooth. it was similar to the pain of sensitive teeth. since i have sensitive teeth, i assumed it was from the cold water, cooling the compressed air. we finished our dive. durring an hour on the surface, the pain had pretty well disappeared. we started our second dive, but i never got to 20 ft down, when i had to abort my dive. i watched my friend retrieve our buoy, and surface swam back to shore. at that time, the pain was bad. but it got progressivly worst over the next 12 hours before it started to ease off. its now been about 28 hours since i surfaced, and its only now that i can concetrate enuf to write this post. i've read a great deal about reverse blocks, and barotraumas. however, my local dentist or E.R has no idea what i'm talking about. there is a filling in the tooth, and if my memory serves, its not recent my any means.

has anyone ever had to deal with this? thanks

 

[thirtyfivefox]

You should check with a dentist! It sounds like you have some air space that isn't able to equalize. PADI open water teaches that this can occur pretty commonly and there are some things that can be done to help prevent it in the future. I'm no doctor, but I imagine you will probably lose the pain over time as the space equalizes slowly but you should have the problem fixed if you wish to keep diving! GL.

From the PADI OW Diver Manual Page 20

"Although very rare, it's possible for an air space to develop in filled teeth where the tooth or filling has continued to erode. During descent, the increasing pressure pushing in on this small air space causes a tooth squeeze. In most cases, the discomfort will cause you to stop descending. You can't equalize an air space under a tooth filling, but your dentist can eliminate the space, and regular dental checkups help avoid the problem altogether. "

 

[elan]

It sounds like you have cavities in your tooth. In the one that is giving you troubles. When you descend the air compresses inside causing pain. Then air slowly migrates there and on ascend it' the ohter way - it expands causing pain. Visit your dentist and do an X-ray they should see the issue.

 

[Boardndave]

Definitely sounds as if you might have some tooth decay. I know a few divers who have found out about cavities the hard way, too!

 

[richl025]

I agree with both posters who responded to you. In this sub-forum AND the other one. FYI, it's usually considered bad form to post the same thing in different sub-forums.

Go see a dentist.

 

[adamp69]

yeah, i know. i realized after posting that it probably didnt belong in that forum. but i really cant figure out how to delete a post.

---------- Post Merged at 06:53 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:52 PM ----------

so i dont have to worry about a air bubble going to my brain or anything? lol

 

[eponym]

yeah, i know. i realized after posting that it probably didnt belong in that forum. but i really cant figure out how to delete a post.

---------- Post Merged at 06:53 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:52 PM ----------

so i dont have to worry about a air bubble going to my brain or anything? lol

As to stroke (brain), probably not.

You can ask a moderator to move a thread after you've created it. An easy way is to click on "report post" and use that form to request the move (to, say, Diving Medicine).

Hope you get better soon,
Bryan

 

[Quero]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Duplicate threads merged and moved from the two incorrect forums to Diving Medicine.

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[mfox007]

I actually experienced this today during my final certification dive. I experienced a toothache while descending to 35'. It went away after about 2-3 minutes, but I'm going to have my dentist check it out anyway.

 

[Joe Bailey]

Not to say you're overreacting but you may have been a little congested. Pressure in your nasal cavity (wich is right over your gumline) can make it feel like your tooth is being pushed out from the inside. This can happen if you decend a little too quickly for the airspace to equalize. If the pain was coming from an upper molar this is a very likely cause, but if the pain was coming from a lower tooth, then yes go see a dentist.