Excruciating pain in teeth on descent

[kfraser]

Hi, I have been in Thailand for the past ten months diving.
Sometimes within the first two meters of descent I get an excruciating pain always in the back left hand side of my mouth. This makes it impossible to continue diving and it is only diving that causes the pain.
I am back in the UK now but need to travel again to start with Tech training. However we haven't got to the bottom of this problem. I have no fillings and no cavities in my teeth, none are cracked, the dentist cannot find anything wrong. I have had an x-ray on my teeth and also I have been referred to ENT and they tested me for allergies.

I have no allergies, I have had an MRI scan and there is no visible problem apart from slight mucous thickening but apparently that is not sufficient to be causing the problem. I cannot tell when the pain is going to happen but it feels like my tooth is going to explode out of the side of my face. I have tried decongestants, antibiotics, antihistamines, steroid nasal sprays and steam inhalers none of which have helped.
From what I have read it must be a tooth squeeze or a sinus squeeze however the people that tend to suffer from this have fillings, cracked teeth or sinusitis.
Has anyone had similar problems? or can anyone recommend a doctor or dentist with an interest in this area? The NHS so far have been very slow and seem to be stumped.


Thanks

 

[Diver0001]

Are you sure the pain is coming from your teeth?

This is just a thought and I'm no doctor so you should ignore me but there are a couple of nerves running through your jaw and it would seem self evident that there is a nerve getting some pressure from somewhere... just maybe it's not from the tooth... It could theoretically just be presenting as pain in the tooth.

Did you see a dentist or an ENT about this?

R..

 

[Doppler]

I have suffered from what reads like a very similar pain... but my issue was caused by an infected tooth (bacteria farting out gas and generally being little pricks).

Dentist fixed it... mind you, no NHS dentist... private and bloody expensive.

So, sorry mate, I think I know how it feels but unable to suggest much that you have not already tried.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi kfraser,

Given that you have no fillings, no cavities, no allergies, an MRI of the sinuses that was read as essentially benign, and neither your dentist nor ENT has as yet been able find anything that would explain the pain, a lot of the possible causes appear to be eliminated

I know of several cases such as yours and one remaining possibility is that even though the dentist found no evidence of a cracked tooth, hairline cracks that don't show on routine x-ray can and do exist. Sometimes such cracks can be revealed by transilluminating light, application of dye to suspected teeth or digital radiography. You might wish to consider seeking additional dental evaluation.

As Diver0001 has alluded to, maxillary sinus issues (e.g., squeeze) can produce upper molar pain, as can other conditions that adversely affect the maxillary branch of the trigeminal nerve. You might wish to consider seeking additional ENT evaluation, including an endoscopic sinus exam.

Regards,

DocVikingo

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual and should not be construed as such.

 

[theduckguru]

Is your mouth piece on your reg rather chewed up? Anyway your problem is TMJ?

 

[kfraser]

Thank for all your responses! I have another appointment with the ENT coming up and I will be going back to the dentist as well with questions about infection and cracked teeth. The only other thing I can think of is this started in Thailand and I had a CT scan there and it showed that my left hand wisdom tooth root was long which is the side it always hurts on. The doctor at the time said that he thought maybe if I had a bit of gunk in my sinus (which I did on both sides of my maxillary sinus at the time) that slight pressure could cause pain on the tooth. But when I brought this report back to the NHS here and asked to have the tooth out they looked at me like I was off my rocker and dismissed it right away.