Dental crowns and implants
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sealionesse
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I have a crown on one tooth (for 13 years now) and it's never given me a problem (with the permanent crown). The temporary crown I had (while waiting for the permanent one) did though. But it wasn't that bad at all. It came loose on my ascent so tucked it away in my mouth in that nice space between the gumline and cheek. When I got to the surface, I spit it out and put it in my glove.
There was probalby an air pocket and it was probably loose anyway since I had that temporary for almost a month--when I called the dentist the next morning, he told me my permanent crown had just come in and I saved him the trouble of removing the temp.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know the "worst" thing that happened to me with a crown and diving--and as you can see it was pretty much a non, event.
There was probalby an air pocket and it was probably loose anyway since I had that temporary for almost a month--when I called the dentist the next morning, he told me my permanent crown had just come in and I saved him the trouble of removing the temp.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know the "worst" thing that happened to me with a crown and diving--and as you can see it was pretty much a non, event.
I guess my dentist must have really cemented my temp crown on especially well! She had to get a chisel out and bang on it (at least it felt like banging from the reverberations in my head) to get the darned thing off the base in order to put the permanent one on. I think it even came off in bits after she thinned it out with one of her high-pitched torture devices.
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I like the sound of chisels, torque wrenches and high pitched torture devices. No wonder everyone wants a valium for their dental appointments. Modern dentistry with a medieval twist.Cheers
I'm allergic to needles in my mouth. The Valium doesn't make it hurt any less when grinding down a tooth for a crown, but it makes it so I don't care.....
Valium prior to going to the dentist is a requirement for me. Then once I am in the chair, NO2 is pretty much a requirement. I was traumatized by a dentist in my youth and I know it is irrational but I do not trust anyone with a needle messing around in my mouth. Did I mention I HATE DENTISTS?
sealionesse
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When I had my root canal that lead to the crown I mentioned, I didn't realize you weren't supposed to feel anything. People talk about how horrible root canals are that I assumed pain during the procedure was just one of those things. I'd guess about a third of the way into the procedure it dawned on the dentist and he asked, "can you feel this?" When he found out I could the poor guy was horrified and gave me an additional shot of Novocaine.
Personally, I hate when they pick at your gums and then tell you you have bleeding gums. Yeah my gums are bleeding, you just scratched me up and poked me with a sharp metal stick!
Personally, I hate when they pick at your gums and then tell you you have bleeding gums. Yeah my gums are bleeding, you just scratched me up and poked me with a sharp metal stick!
neonstingray
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Well I'm heading towards my 3rd year of dental school, and am actually posting here as a study break from studying for part 1 of the national boards. To answer the original question, properly done fillings and crowns shouldn't be an issue because there shouldn't be any air spaces or voids within them. Voids tend to wreak havoc in dentistry in regards to micro-leakage and decay.
In the case of a crown, the tooth should be prepped and the crown designed in such a way that the tooth structure and crown are separately only be an ultra-thin layer of crown cement. Any kind of gap or void at the margin of the edge of the crown and the tooth greater than about 50 microns is considered clinically unacceptable and prone to microleakage.
As for temporaries - they are exactly that. They often aren't fabricated or placed to the same standards as the final crown as they're going to be removed in a short time when the final crown comes back from the lab. There are also several different ways to make them, one of which is acrylic, which can have some minor voids itself if not mixed and molded properly. That being said, a temporary can be made very well and last far longer than it's designed to. In school clinics, especially ones serving lower socio-economic classes, patients have a tendency to not return for follow-up appointments whenever they aren't suffering from an immediate need or problem. They therefore often won't even return to have the temporary swapped out with the final crown. Some dentists will therefore make the temporary a significantly different color shade just to remind the patient of the need to return, instead of risking further damage later once the temporary starts to break down. So yes, a well-made temporary could likely survive diving without issues, but I'd never recommend it.
To Dmoore and the others who expressed their hatred of dentists - I'm sorry about your experiences. At the same time, it's the plight of people such as yourself that inspire those of us just entering the field to remember the fundamental reasons for offering care and the real measure of success, which is not judged just under a microscope or a set of loupes, but by the betterment of the patient's life and well-being.
In the case of a crown, the tooth should be prepped and the crown designed in such a way that the tooth structure and crown are separately only be an ultra-thin layer of crown cement. Any kind of gap or void at the margin of the edge of the crown and the tooth greater than about 50 microns is considered clinically unacceptable and prone to microleakage.
As for temporaries - they are exactly that. They often aren't fabricated or placed to the same standards as the final crown as they're going to be removed in a short time when the final crown comes back from the lab. There are also several different ways to make them, one of which is acrylic, which can have some minor voids itself if not mixed and molded properly. That being said, a temporary can be made very well and last far longer than it's designed to. In school clinics, especially ones serving lower socio-economic classes, patients have a tendency to not return for follow-up appointments whenever they aren't suffering from an immediate need or problem. They therefore often won't even return to have the temporary swapped out with the final crown. Some dentists will therefore make the temporary a significantly different color shade just to remind the patient of the need to return, instead of risking further damage later once the temporary starts to break down. So yes, a well-made temporary could likely survive diving without issues, but I'd never recommend it.
To Dmoore and the others who expressed their hatred of dentists - I'm sorry about your experiences. At the same time, it's the plight of people such as yourself that inspire those of us just entering the field to remember the fundamental reasons for offering care and the real measure of success, which is not judged just under a microscope or a set of loupes, but by the betterment of the patient's life and well-being.
Camshaft, great informative post. I gather I'm most fortunate in that my temporary was not at all problematic whilst on my 12 day dive trip. It's been well over a month since it was placed but my dentist keeps rejecting the color of the permanent crown and it gets sent back to be rematched.
He's more concerned about the color match than I am since it is for a back tooth. I do look forward to it finally being permanently placed because I'm more than ready to start chewing on that side of my mouth again.
He's more concerned about the color match than I am since it is for a back tooth. I do look forward to it finally being permanently placed because I'm more than ready to start chewing on that side of my mouth again.
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