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After diving for a short period of time, my jaw aches from biting down on the mouth piece. Does anyone know of a mouth piece I can switch to that is more comfortable? I had bad experience early on in my diving many years ago where saltwater entered my mouth past the regulator in 95 feet of water and I was choking so bad I needed assistance getting to the surface.
Midwest/Central U.S. is where I hang my hat. Where I am "living" depends on the season! :-P
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I had some jaw fatigue after I got my new reg set a while back. I did replace the mouthpiece with a soft silicon one from my LDS (Cost about $9), but the big difference came when I swapped out my low-pressure hoses from the old rubber ones to MIFLEX braided hoses (About $45 each). If you think that part of your problem might be the hose pulling on your reg, you might consider looking into a MIFLEX hose. Just my two cents. Good luck.
My vote is for the comfo-bite mouthpiece. It has a bridge on the upper part that helps keep the regulator in your mouth without too much jaw pressure.
An alternative is a sea-cure mouthpiece, but I've never tried that, so I can't really comment on it.
Also, +1 on the use of different hoses. I used to have a problem with the hose pushing the regulator off to one side. I didn't switch to a mi-flex (wasn't out then) but I did switch to a long hose (7'), and that made everything much more comfortable to me (aside from its other uses...)
Check out the mouthpieces that you soak in hot water for a few minutes, then bite down on it. It will mold to your specific teeth pattern. That may help.
I've had the uncomfortable feeling of jaw fatigue too. My buddy and I did a long dive (111 minutes) and looped our Quarry (a couple of miles) at 2 atm. It was fun, but my jaw was killing me, and my mask was really hurting my face.
Back to your original post...........jaw fatigue or not, if you're in 95 feet, bite down. You'll live through an aching jaw, but allowing water in your reg..............not good.
The SeaCure ... it's a great option. Put it in boiling water for a few seconds, bite down on it, and voila, a custom mouthpiece. Works really well for most people. We like them so much that we got spares and fitted them too, and they go with us on dive trips. They're $24 at Scuba Toys, and worth every penny. Be sure to get the right one for your reg ... there are a couple of options.
Then spring for a Miflex regulator hose ... much softer and more flexible, virtually eliminating the push/pull of a standard hose. Again, not cheap ($36 at Scuba Toys), but the distraction caused by the jaw issue is gone.
If I wrote it, it's only my opinion. ___________________________ " ... when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface all the time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent. "
-Dave Barry
I got the Atomic comfort mouthpieces and they work great and are very comfortable. I barely put any pressure on and stays. AlsoIf your diving with a hood and its tight around your Jaw I found that it being tight makes it a lot harder to open/close and by puttin that constant pressure can cause some pain also.
You have discomfort because you most likely bite too hard on the mouthpiece. You don't have to spend dollars to fix this. Hold the mouthpiece with your mouth and do not not bite down on it. Your teeth do not hold the mouthpiece in place, if they did it would be called a teethplace.
I also read that you had a bad experience with water getting into your mouth at depth some time ago and needed assistance to get to the surface.
The truth is, regardless of how hard you bite down on that regulator it won't make any difference on the seal which is all done by your lips. It makes sense, since your teeth are all downstream from the seal. You can not bite down harder, or less for that matter and change the characteristics of of your mouthpiece seal which is all lips.
Adopting this will also greatly improve your bottom time as well.
Has your dentist ever checked you for TMJ or bruxism? If you're grinding your teeth or regularly biting too hard, this might be compounded holding a chunk of weight with your jaw for long periods, especially with the slight off-axis pull of the hose. For diving, this can often be partially remedied by focusing on lightly holding the reg in your teeth rather than biting down on it, as mentioned above.
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