Tooth sensitivity to hot/cold after dive

[Lopez116]

I had some dental work done a few months ago - several fillings and a crown. I dove yesterday for the first time since then. No pain upon descent or ascent at all. But, when I drank a glass of cold water after surfacing, the tooth with the crown was extremely painful and sensitive to cold.

It still is like that this morning. This is day 2 of the trip, so obviously I have more dives planned. I am worried now.

Anybody know why the sensitivity? Will further diving do damage???

Thanks

 

[Wookie]

Well, isn't this a familiar story.

Had that problem in Roatan a number of years ago. Really painful, in fact, I had the pliers in my mouth ready to pull the tooth with my wife beating me to give her the pliers. If you saw the size of me compared to the size of my wife you'd laugh, but she makes up for small stature in mean. Anyway, turns out that my sinus was impacted with green stuff, and that root of that tooth went all the way up into my sinus cavity.

Fast forward 10 years. Tooth has never stopped bothering me. It's been crowned, filled, beaten with a stick, and it just doesn't stop giving me hell. My dentist got a fancy new x-ray machine that can now see the tips of the roots in my sinus. So Friday (this past Friday) I got a root canal. 10 years after the first symptom. I feel great now, a chronic infection can really get you down.

My advice is to go back to the dentist and have him really check that tooth for decay. The Endontist pulled about a quart of pus out of my tooth (ok, not that much, but it stank like a quart) and today I get to back and get the crown filled. Woohoo!!!

Still, I feel so much better it's like night and day.

 

[Bubblesong]

My husband is suffering this for decades, root canal is the answer to stopping pain, but he has yet to do it. He just avoid temp. Extremes in drinking.

 

[redacted]

Try Mexican ambesol. Tequila neat.

 

[TMHeimer]

I had a very sensitive tooth after getting a crown--not at all to do with diving. If fact it wasn't sensitive after dives. After a while the pain went away when drinking something cold. If it hadn't I'd have gone back to the dentist.

 

[Lopez116]

Update - 2 dives today to 80', no problems at all during descent/ascent. Tooth still excruciatingly painful to cold only.

I'm wondering if the dive put pressure on an already-screwed up nerve or root and it's now sensitive. I drank cold water before the first dive yesterday and was fine. Immediately after, horrible cold sensitivity.

I hope I don't need a root canal.

 

[Wookie]

It isn't that terrible, except it costs half a dive vacation.

 

[Bubblesong]

Which tooth is it?

 

[Moor3061]

I had a few fillings last year. My dentist who is also a diver said I could have sensitivity for a couple months. It took a few months for the sensitivity to go away, maybe 4 or 5 for one that was filled really deep into the tooth.

 

[BRT]

Solution is to mix the dental work with the dive vacation and do both in Cozumel.