regulators and TMJ

[JonKranhouse]

Hi harmonicaguru,

I also have TMJ, but have only had marginal improvement with my SeaCure mouthpiece, which still requires bite pressure.

I've heard of this "Manta-Bite" mouthpiece that can be put onto any second-stage regulator.

I haven't used a Manta-Bite myself, but the idea seems like a natural for TMJ -- it was invented by a dentist / diver.

As earlier posters have mentioned, you may have to reconfigure your backup air, since another diver with OOA emergency is going to be confused getting this Manta-Bite into his / her mouth.

As an earlier poster mentioned, a swivel can greatly increase comfort. But there was a recent recall of Taiwan swivels + problematic Italian swivels, still on the market. Both import swivels are knock-offs of the original invention, patented and built by a US company. The knock-offs have separated in half while submerged. Here's a link to M&J Engineering, the company that holds the US patent for the original second-stage swivel. M&J has a good reputation in the tech community for a range of gas fittings / manifold blocks, but they also had a safety recall in 2005. The "take-away" is that to maximize your safety margin as a recreational diver, you must learn some basics about equipment maintenance, and watch out for known problems. Kudos to the SB community for making diving safer!

 

[ronbeau]

I am about to replace my ancient regulator. I have TMJ problems which typically become worse when diving. Is there a regulator on the market with a mouthpiece designed to have less of an impact on the jaw? (One that actually works, that is.)

My wife has TMJ. She uses an Atomic mouthpiece that came with her Atomic B2 regulator. The B2 also comes with an excellent second stage swivel. Even though she has TMJ the regulator doesn't exacerbate the TMJ. She finds this setup extremely comfortable while diving.


My daughter's regulator is a ScubaPro MK25SA/S600. We put an Atomic mouthpiece on it along with the Atomic swivel hose. It works very well.

My regulator is the same as my wife's (Atomic B2).

 

[CFDAlden]

My wife also has TMJ, and the Aqualung Comfobite has been great for her thus far, in our limited diving experience. If that starts to bother her, she'll go Seacure. She already has all the literature.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

For the record, when a diver is having an OOA, they don't give a tiny rat's *** that you have a molded Seacure. I know from personal experience when my cousin's reg started freeflowing and he started to panick at 120'. He said he didn't even notice it was a molded mouthpiece until we were back under control at 15 foot, doing a safety stop.

I agree with you as long as the rather stiff and long bite tabs on a given sea cure mouthpiece fit easily in the OOA divers mouth. If you have a big mouth, it can get interesting donating to a diver that does not have as big a mouth with a sea cure mouthpiece.

 

[adjuster-jd]

I've tried both the seacure as well as the manta-bite mouthpieces. The seacure hardens to a hard plastic once it is molded. Although it fit my teeth, it also rubbed against my gums and irritated them badly on a trip where I was doing 4 dives a day.

I never could get comfortable with the manta bite. I tried it on one dive. I had a hard time getting it in my mouth and it seemed to make me hang my mouth open all the time..

I use the comfo bite mouthpiece on all my regs now and have been very pleased with them. I also use regs with swivels (Oceanic Delta 4 and Apeks Tungsten XTX) which help take the stress off the jaw.. The swivels seem to have helped...

 

[texdiveguy]

I suffer with TMJ...my partial solution is 2 fold.....Dive Rite long bite mouth pieces and a 2nd. stage 360 degree swivel.