Hi darylm74,
No disrespect intended, but out of curiosity, how long has it been since your last dental check-up? If it has been a while, you may have some dental problems that haven't been detected.
It sounds like you either broke a portion of natural tooth or a piece of a composite or porcelain restoration (Duh! That's exactly what you said). If there is decay in the offending tooth, then the softened tooth under the enamel or restorative could no longer support the load applied to the tooth and it broke.
In all likelyhood, this is NOT a function of the depth and not odontcraxis (tooth breakage due to pressure change). Instead, it is more likely that you transmitted your biting force to only the teeth in contact with the bite tabs on the second stage. A sinus problem does not cause tooth breakage.
Typically, the bite tabs rest on the bicuspid teeth and possibly part of the first molars. All your biting force is directed onto these eight or so teeth rather than being distributed throughout the mouth.
DA Aquamaster, I must disagree with your statement:
"The average scuba mouthpiece relies on the front teeth for much of the bite pressure needed to hold the mouthpiece in place. There are big differences even with stock mouthpieces and you may want to experiment and find one with larger bite tabs."
The upper and lower front teeth generally DO NOT make contact with the regulator or the opposing teeth. The bite tabs are on the sides of the mouthpiece. Some custom bites cover a larger area but still don't touch the front teeth.
Out of curiosity, since you said you were taking refresher courses, did your regulator have an existing custom bite? If it does, and if it has been a while since you last used the reg, your teeth may have shifted slightly and the bite is no longer accurate. This will cause excessive stress on the teeth and could lead to breakage. Reheating the custom bite material and re-form it.
It is also possible that you had a cracked tooth or filling PRIOR to the dive and the piece of tooth simply happened to come out when it did. The dive had nothing to do with it.
When you think about it, your teeth and any restorations are placed in a warm, wet, dark place having incredible bite forces exerted thousands of times a day. Add to this mix, thermal cycling due to the intake of hot and cold foods, chewing on ice or unpopped popcorn, biting off fishing line or stripping insulation from electric wires. This is a perfect recipe for mechanical failure of almost anything you can think of placed in the mouth.
You may spend tens of thousands of dollars to purchase a car...only to get a new one 5-10 years later...the old one wore out. When a hundred dollar, 25 year old filling fails, we wonder what went wrong. Hey, these thing wear out too.
Go see the dentist to fix the problem. The sensitivity you are now experiencing may be perfectly normal for a tooth with a cavity or broken filling. However, it may be the beginning of a more serious problem. Don't put of treatment unless you happen to like the ROOT CANAL words!
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Laurence Stein, DDS
:doctor:
