A crown just fell off my molar. Nothing hurts but can I dive before I see my dentist?

[CathyE]

I'm not going to contradict the medical professionals on this forum, just relating my recent experience.
I had a temporary crown installed right before my trip to Cuba last Christmas. My Russian dentist was insistent that I take the moulds with me in case I broke the temporary. He was concerned about infection, and said to get the tooth capped again as soon as possible if I broke the temp. He had no faith in the Cuban dentists, but said a trained monkey could make a new temp crown with his moulds.
He was concerned that if the tooth (that had a root canal) was not sealed tightly infection could set in and cause an abscess that could hider the retention of the tooth.

 

[Tool Belt]

I'm not going to contradict the medical professionals on this forum, just relating my recent experience.
I had a temporary crown installed right before my trip to Cuba last Christmas. My Russian dentist was insistent that I take the moulds with me in case I broke the temporary. He was concerned about infection, and said to get the tooth capped again as soon as possible if I broke the temp. He had no faith in the Cuban dentists, but said a trained monkey could make a new temp crown with his moulds.
He was concerned that if the tooth (that had a root canal) was not sealed tightly infection could set in and cause an abscess that could hider the retention of the tooth.

A properly completed, endodontically treated tooth will suffer no SCUBA related deleterious affects without the temporary crown.

 

[jellyfishattack]

With all due deffernce to Duke I would be a LOT more concerned about a squeeze or the crown coming off at an inopertune moment if you decide to recement it yourself. No sensitivity at the surface means no sensitivity at depth. Leave it as it is and enjoy........ Of course dentistry may have changed in the five years since I retired

Thank you for your reply! Now that you mention it, that makes sense. I do not want to experience any tooth squeeze, if I can help it. I can't see that far back to place the crown correctly. I'd have no idea if I left a huge air pocket.

I did think protecting the tooth was a good thing; but if I need a 'post', then protecting the tooth remnant isn't important. It's being pulled anyway. And, if I'm not in pain, I'll probably be diving until the day before I drive down to see my dentist hopefully, next week (about 145 miles South).

 

[CathyE]

A properly completed, endodontically treated tooth will suffer no SCUBA related deleterious affects without the temporary crown.

His concern was not scuba related and he had not done the origional root canal.

 

[jellyfishattack]

His concern was not scuba related and he had not done the origional root canal.

I fear nothing except heights and dentists, esp endodontists lol. Thanks for your replies.

 

[Tool Belt]

I fear nothing except heights and dentists, esp endodontists lol. Thanks for your replies.

Sounds reasonable to me!

 

[Tool Belt]

Deleted duplicate post

 

[hilljo88]

I had a dentist once tell me to stick some chewing gum on the tooth where the crown came off to protect it and to not cut the tongue.

 

[Tool Belt]

I had a dentist once tell me to stick some chewing gum on the tooth where the crown came off to protect it and to not cut the tongue.

As long as you don't mind possibly aspirating the gum at depth I say go for it. What works at one atm may not be reasonable at 3 or 4 atm's.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

With all due deffernce to Duke I would be a LOT more concerned about a squeeze or the crown coming off at an inopertune moment if you decide to recement it yourself. No sensitivity at the surface means no sensitivity at depth. Leave it as it is and enjoy........ Of course dentistry may have changed in the five years since I retired

If you're a dentist I would defer to your expertise, though OTC denture cement (am I using the right terminology? I'm talking about Polydent adhesive cream and others like it) is flexible so I think the risk of tooth squeeze would be very low. Speaking strictly from personal experience, a small dollop of properly applied denture adhesive will keep the crown pretty well for a couple of days - that's what my own dentist advised when it happened to me.

Best regards,
DDM