dental question

[brucefan]

I just got back from the dentist and found out I need to have a wisdom tooth pulled and my filing taking out and redone. Is there anything I should ask or tell the dentist to make sure that he doesn't leave any pockets of air anywhere. Has anyone one had any problems diving after having their wisbom teeth extracted? Thanks for all your help.

 

[bleeb]

I realize this is only tangentially related to your question, but in case you hadn't seen it:
DAN Divers Alert Network : Diving and Wisdom Teeth

This seems to imply that it's not a matter of the dentist leaving pockets of air. He/she will. It's sounds more like a matter of waiting long enough for the body to fill in the hole.

More knowledgeable comments would be welcome.

 

[ClayJar]

I just got back from the dentist and found out I need to have a wisdom tooth pulled and my filing taking out and redone. Is there anything I should ask or tell the dentist to make sure that he doesn't leave any pockets of air anywhere.

According to the diving dentists I've talked to (and we have at least one on every boat, and even one who is an instructor with the shop), dentists don't leave air pockets in teeth (i.e. fillings and root canals, not talking about extractions), but sometimes it can happen. If you have a tooth squeeze, they can fix that, but you're generally not going to have one and you wouldn't really have a way to know other than to actually *have* a tooth squeeze (which will *certainly* let you know, and quite emphatically at that).

Has anyone one had any problems diving after having their wisdom teeth extracted?

I am wisdom-tooth-free, with a root canal and crown the misfortunate result of one of the the (formerly) impacted wisdom teeth. It certainly hasn't affected my diving.

Now, on the other hand, after having a tooth (or teeth) extracted, you must not dive until you're properly healed. (Read that DAN article, for one.) You don't want to get compressed air in there, and if you somehow give yourself a dry socket, you'll get to suffer not just from the pain but also from the knowledge that you did it to yourself.

 

[fppf]

wisdom tooth removal should not affect diving, after your healed up of course.

As for fillings my dentist don't get the composite fillings, get silver or even better gold. He said that its easier to pack the silver or gold fillings into the hole and it bonds to the tooth better. This has a better chance of having no air space. I have some large fillings and have no issues with them diving so I guess I trust what he is saying.

My wife did have an issue with one filling and had it redone with no issues.

 

[weaserm99]

I was diving in pools that were 13 feet deep about a week after having my two bottom wisdom teeth pulled, when i talked to a dental proffesional the other day she told me that wisdom teeth can take 6-12 months to heal fully, ive had mine pulled for over a year and no problems diving.

 

[sprange]

Extractions generally will not leave any hard tissue (ie bone) 'pockets'. Assuming no complications (sinus communication for example), the only issue is healing. Development of 'dry socket' would be my primary concern--certainly not something you want to experience while you're on vacation. Taking a few weeks off after an extraction is a conservative approach, one that I usually recommend. Some reports have suggested a role for anaerobic bacteria (which would hate the high ppO2 from compressed air/nitrox) in dry socket pathogenesis, but the evidence isn't compelling. The article on the DAN website is a great resource, so I probably don't need to say anything else.

Regarding choice of material for restorations, fppf mentioned a good point. It is certainly much easier to pack amalgam uniformly (ie no voids), and I'm also in agreement with gold being a great material for restorations.

 

[brucefan]

Thanks for all the info.