Diving with Braces or other ortho D work?

[Insert Catchy name]

Have seen a few people comment on Dentures but none about braces or orther implant/orthodonture work?

Do you have/had braces ETC, while diving? How was it? Normal, painful?


Joe

 

[avlena]

My husband just got braces, and went for underwater for the first time with them. He said that it was painful, because his teeth are so sensitive to pressure now, and he realized that he bites down rather hard on his regulator.

From the research that we did, it really varies from person to person, depending on how you hold the regulator in your mouth. I'd imagine that once you get used to having the braces, the pain during diving diminishes.

 

[robint]

my daughter had braces when she first started diving. The BIG key is to get a mouthpiece that works for you and the best one on the market for braces is the Comfobite mouthpiece for Aqualung regulators. You don't have to bite down on it, it fits around your teeth differently as it has a piece that sits in front and behind your top teeth. It sounds like it would gag you but it doesn't.... best part is that you never get the jaw fatigue from biting down on a mouthpiece to keep it in your mouth. I use the same mouthpiece (I have a small mouth so it fits well) and my daughter still uses one even though her braces have been off for years now.

 

[ronbeau]

Have seen a few people comment on Dentures but none about braces or other implant/orthodontic work?

Do you have/had braces ETC, while diving? How was it? Normal, painful?


Joe

My 14 year old daughter dove with braces and had no problems. She was using the Atomic mouthpiece on her ScubaPro MK25SA/S600 regulator with the Atomic swivel hose.

 

[wackybell38]

Hey all - this is Avlena's Hubby

Like she said, just got my braces about a month or so ago, and went for a dive this past weekend.

I found that the brackets like to snag (I have a Titan Micra reg) a little on to the mouthpiece, so I had to be a little careful inserting and removing the thing. Also, since my teeth were very sensitive to pressure (esp. after a readjustment), any movement (tugs, bumps, etc) to the hose transferred pressure to my teeth, making things a little uncomfortable. I ended up being very conscious of my surroundings and avoiding things that could bump into me (like fins of other divers).

All in all, it wasn't as quite painful as Avlena made it sound, it just had a good amount of "oral discomfort" you could say. Nothing that will deter me from diving again while I have my braces I'll just, you know, wait for a week or so past my next adjustment.

I think I'm going to look into getting a new mouthpiece, perhaps the one mentioned earlier.

 

[InTheDrink]

I've recently had invisalign braces fitted and did wonder what the impact would be and the answer is very little if the mouthpiece fits snuggly. If it doesn't it is rather wearying. In these instances I gently held my mouthpiece in place with my hand from time to time to take the strain of my jaw which helps.

 

[Insert Catchy name]

The Invisalign braces are the exact reason I ask.

Bottom teeth are starting to twist like the they did pre-braces in Jr High. Seems my dentist would like to have them installed again.

Avlena's Hubby , so "pain" isn't the right word? Just annoying/pressure more than anything?


Thanks for all the replys. Joe

 

[InTheDrink]

Well it depends. At the start it's just pressure but as they get a bit more ambitious later in the stages it can hurt quite a bit for the first couple of days. I put my new sets in at night after a couple of bottles of wine. Works a treat, most of the pain I spend boozey and asleep

I try to not have a new set a few days prior to going diving as the teeth can feel a bit sensitive and do feel like a large man is standing on your mouth. Add clenching down on a mouthpiece and it can be a bit uncomfy.

So:
1. Booze
2. Fit
3. Sleep
4. Wait couple days
5. Dive

Simple really....

Enjoy!

p.s. the invisalign system is absolutely amazing - I'm astonished by how effective it is.

John

 

[Digger54]

I had them as an adult and had no problem. Mouthpiece certainly fits much better without them. I can't see standard braces or Invisilign creating any significant problem.

As long as you keep your reg in your mouth while underwater that glittering metal shouldn't attract the barracuda.

 

[NancyLynn]

Have seen a few people comment on Dentures but none about braces or orther implant/orthodonture work?

Do you have/had braces ETC, while diving? How was it? Normal, painful?


Joe

My daughter had braces when she got certified. I expected they might interfere with diving, but they weren't a problem at all for her. Then, again, the braces themselves didn't really bother her either (standard metal kind) - a little ibuprofen the day they got adjusted, but that was about it.

Perhaps there's a connection between how well you adjust to braces, in general, and how much they are likely to bother you when you dive.