pain in tooth...?

[scubadobadoo]

Yet another awesome trip to Bonaire last week!! Only one issue...after a few dives I started having a very sharp pain in an left upper tooth in the rear....of my mouth, lol. I had been suffering from minor sinus issues for a few weeks AND I did also have a history of dental work in that tooth. Tooth squeeze or sinus?

The pain was bad enough to stop my diving at the start of my trip so I went to the local Doctor. X-rays were inconclusive for a tooth squeeze and I only appeared to have mild sinus issues. Strange.

The Doctor said he felt it was tooth squeeze at first but he wasn't sure since I would experience the pain only on SOME dives and it would start at various depths. Plus, I have been diving for six years now with the same tooth/dental work and zero issue until now. A dentist staying at Den Laman said that a tooth squeeze was very unlikely given the dental work was very old and that the pain dodn't continue when I aborted the dive. In other words, the pain started at 6 feet and sometimes at 16ft and sometimes at around 26 feet.

Anyway, I missed a bunch of dives but life goes on right? It was still a wonderful time and I will return. A week of meds and I am back home considering seeing an ENT. SO has anyone else had sinus issues while diving that resulted in a sharp pain in the tooth? I have never heard of this in six years of diving but I guess it must happen given that the sinus cavity could put pressure on the tooth nerve there right???? Heck, I don't know....I just want it to go away.

Thanks as usual for all the comments.

 

[Henryville]

I once had a sinus issue on ascent that really felt like a tooth problem. Mine was also in the upper left molar area. I was sure it was a tooth, but I have no dental work in that area. I do occasionally have a sinus issue. I wonder if there is a sinus cavity that lays right over the upper jaw. Anyway, it hasn't reappeared and I've done several hundred dives since then. Hope yours was just a transient issue, too.

 

[Greg_MacMaster]

I had a cavity that was close to a root canal - but I held off. That was until I dove to my usual 110'. Man did that tooth hurt. Until I could get a root canal, I had to take Amoxicillan to kill the bacteria in the root near the bone and that's where my pain was. I thought it may have been sinus, but it wasn't.

Try taking some motrin first to ease the swelling - if there is any. Next try Sudifed.... Good luck!

 

[Buoyant1]

When my sinus' are really cruddy I get a toothache...I think if it were a tooth squeeze you'd have had the problem long before now.

Realize where everything is in your noggin...it makes sense that if the sinus is affected it cold affect teeth...

 

[giles45shop]

I had the same type of thing happen to me. Went diving a couple weeks after a cold, and thought I was over it. Everything was okay until ~ 20 feet, when I started to get a lot of pain in my upper teeth on one side. When I ascended, it hurt a little less, but was still there. I thought it was a tooth issue, but I had not had any dental work done in years.

My instructor noted that I had some swelling in my face. She indicated it had happened to her before and had been a sinus issue. Went to an ENT, but couldn't get in until a couple weeks later (pain disappeared same day it started). She said there are sinus cavities above the teeth that can press down from the backside and cause tooth pain.

Went diving a few days after seeing the ENT and no issues. My guess would be a sinus issue, but you probably want to get it checked out just in case. My ENT was sending me for a CAT scan to try and determine sinus/vs teeth, but I decided since it was weeks later it was easier and more cost effective to just to do a test dive.

John

 

[z3r0c00l]

At the dentist I feel the gum needle in the middle of my tongue, and it is really bad (you know the lower jaw needle, feels like a straw). The point being, pain can move around!

 

[PuyallupCoug]

The roots of my upper molars extend into my sinuses (my dentist so graciously pointed this out on my last x-ray) and when I get a bad sinus infection it causes pain in my upper teeth so it is entirely possible that the pain you felt in your tooth was from your sinuses. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tricia]

I was having some nasty sinus infections last year: the ENT did a scanner of the sinuses and was talking about a minor surgery. I happen to mention this to my dentist and he said in exasperation: "You've had several root canals on both upper sides!" He explained that if you have very small roots (like I do) and a regular dentist (not an endodontist) does your root canals (like I did), the dentist may not have tools small enough to get up in there and get out all of the tiny roots. So they stay there and then when they get inflamed - presto! You get inflamed sinuses. I'm scheduled to have a dental surgery later this year where the endodontist will get up in there and get those nasty little roots out - don't ask how he'll do it, you don't want to know....

Trish

 

[BKP]

Did the pain occur on descent or ascent?

I had a cracked tooth, that didn't show up on x-ray, however, on ascent, once I got above about 20 feet (from a depth of perhaps 60 to 70), the pain became intense. I had to slow the ascent tremendously (down to approx. 1ft/5 sec) in order to mitigate the pain. Perhaps you've something similar.