News
First Stop for Scuba Divers: the Dentist’s Office?
The first time she tried scuba diving, Vinisha Ranna felt a squeezing sensation in her teeth.
That experience led to a study that concluded divers often encounter dental problems underwater. Potentially, these problems include pain in the teeth, jaw and gums; loose crowns; and broken fillings, said Ranna, a dentist in training.
“Divers are required to meet a standard of medical fitness before certification, but there are no dental health prerequisites,” added Ranna, lead author of a new study on the subject.
Ranna is a student in the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine in New York. She now advises scuba divers to seek dental care before diving if they have issues such as tooth decay or need restorations.
After wondering about the odd dental sensation she felt during her initial 2013 dive, Ranna and her colleagues contacted 100 certified recreational divers and asked them about dental symptoms. Forty-one said they’d had dental symptoms.
Of those divers, 42 percent had experienced the squeezing sensation, known as barodontalgia. The toothache-like pain can occur while someone is subjected to high or low pressures.
Almost one-quarter had felt pain from tightly holding the air regulator in their mouths, and 22 percent said they’d had jaw pain.
Five percent mentioned that their crowns had loosened during dives, and one person broke a filling, the researchers reported.
“The potential for damage is high during scuba diving,” says Ranna, who now has completed 60 dives.
“Considering that the air supply regulator is held in the mouth, any disorder in the oral cavity can potentially increase the diver’s risk of injury,” she said. “A dentist can look and see if diving is affecting a patient’s oral health.”
The findings don’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship between diving and dental problems. Still, Ranna said that because of pressure differences, an unhealthy tooth would be much more apparent underwater than on the surface.
The study was published recently in the British Dental Journal.
Source: www.satprnews.com
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
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