First Stop for Scuba Divers: The Dentist's Office?

First Cease for Scuba Divers: The Dentist's Workplace?

MONDAY, Jan. 16, 2017 (HealthDay Information) -- The primary time she tried scuba diving, Vinisha Ranna felt a squeezing sensation in her tooth.

That have led to a research that concluded divers usually encounter dental issues underwater. Doubtlessly, these issues embrace ache within the tooth, jaw and gums; free crowns; and damaged fillings, stated Ranna, a dentist in coaching.

"Divers are required to fulfill a normal of medical health earlier than certification, however there aren't any dental well being stipulations," added Ranna, lead creator of a brand new research on the topic.

Ranna is a scholar within the College at Buffalo Faculty of Dental Medication in New York. She now advises scuba divers to hunt dental care earlier than diving if they've points corresponding to tooth decay or want restorations.

After questioning in regards to the odd dental sensation she felt throughout her preliminary 2013 dive, Ranna and her colleagues contacted 100 licensed leisure divers and requested them about dental signs. Forty-one stated they'd had dental signs.

Of these divers, 42 p.c had skilled the squeezing sensation, often known as barodontalgia. The toothache-like ache can happen whereas somebody is subjected to excessive or low pressures.

Virtually one-quarter had felt ache from tightly holding the air regulator of their mouths, and 22 p.c stated they'd had jaw ache.

5 p.c talked about that their crowns had loosened throughout dives, and one particular person broke a filling, the researchers reported.

"The potential for harm is excessive throughout scuba diving," says Ranna, who now has accomplished 60 dives.

"Contemplating that the air provide regulator is held within the mouth, any dysfunction within the oral cavity can doubtlessly improve the diver's danger of harm," she stated. "A dentist can look and see if diving is affecting a affected person's oral well being."

The findings do not show a cause-and-effect relationship between diving and dental issues. Nonetheless, Ranna stated that due to stress variations, an unhealthy tooth could be way more obvious underwater than on the floor.

The research was printed just lately within the British Dental Journal.

-- Randy Dotinga

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SOURCE: College at Buffalo, information launch