Is it Common to have Jaw Trouble After Two Dives?

[Mrs funkcanna]

I'm new to diving and I love it... the only problem is the long lasting side effect... the right side of my jaw feels displaced ( where upper and lower jaws connect) and I can't open my mouth or chew properly. It hurts badly for hours after that and then goes back to normal.... I noticed it's more common after two consecutive dives...

Does anybody have that problem? Any advice?

 

[maged_mmh]

do you have any teeth filled where it hurts? maybe the filling has some air cavity that hurts when the trapped air expands when ascending.

 

[WVDiver]

If your anxiety levels are high it could be tension. You could be clamping down too hard and too long on your mouthpiece. Is there any sign of tears or cuts on your mouthpiece? Do you suffer from TMJ?

 

[SDiggy]

Or perhaps it might be related to jaw fatigue. Some newer divers (myself included) tend to bite down hard on the reg mouthpiece. This would be exacerbated with multiple dives and multiple diving days.

 

[cinder4320]

I'm pretty sure it's what others have suggested. You are biting down on the mouthpiece and causing the fatigue. It happened to me a few times when I first started diving.

Try to relax your jaw. Practice removing your reg. under water so you will be confident that should it come loose you'll be okay. This should allow you to start naturally relaxing your jaw. Over time as you become more comfortable with diving the problem should subside.

Miranda

 

[rstofer]

There are replacement mouthpieces that might be more appropriate. Some can be molded to your mouth. Innovative Comfort Cushion Rubber Mouthpiece RB-0376/0372 with reviews at scuba.com
Seacure Hi-Flow Custom Mouth Piece MP I with reviews at scuba.com

You could be biting down too hard on the mouthpiece without even being aware of it. Try a dive where you concentrate on allowing the regulator to float freely in your mouth - don't even bite down.

Finally, there are some regulator hoses that are just stiff. This tends to pull the regulator around sideways and this just happens to be the side of your jaw that hurts. Try Miflex hoses XS Scuba Miflex Double Braided Hoses I am in the process of putting these on my wife's regulators.

Richard

 

[redacted]

While you are working on putting more dives under your belt and increasing your comfort level, you might want to try some different mouthpieces. This SeaCure mouthpiece is a bit pricey but will probably help: Sea Cure Mouthpiece reviews and discounts, SeaCure. It molds to you teeth so you don't tend to grip it as tightly.

Another alternative is a comfobite mouthpiece: ComfoBite Mouthpiece. It is a little less expensive and tends to hug the roof of your mouth giving you less reason to bite down harder.

Eventually you will be more relaxed and most any mouthpiece will work OK.

 

[Scuba Monster]

I'm new to diving and I love it... the only problem is the long lasting side effect... the right side of my jaw feels displaced ( where upper and lower jaws connect) and I can't open my mouth or chew properly. It hurts badly for hours after that and then goes back to normal.... I noticed it's more common after two consecutive dives...

Does anybody have that problem? Any advice?

I have this problem, but not all the time. Sometimes it occurs after multiple dives and deeper dives. However, I do not have the pain that you describe. It is a locked feeling that occurs in my jaw, where my mouth cannot be comfortably opened wide. After the dive, about 15 minutes on the surface, the feeling disappears.

In order to prevent the locked jaw from occuring frequently, I make sure to decend and acend at an extra, extra slow rate, wiggling my jaw from time to time. Also, when I first started diving, bitting too hard on my mouthpiece was a common mistake. Now the locking seems to happen less frequently, but still occurs. So I am considering trying the Mares Jax - a custom mouthpiece designed by a dentist, which can be molded to fit your bite. On several dive trips recently, I noticed other divers using this mouthpeice and they all swore by the relaxed comfort and fit. So, as others mentioned earlier, a custom mouthpiece might be an option for you too.

 

[shark girl]

I used to get jaw ache a lot after diving, through being tense or excited and biting too hard on my reg mouthpiece. I can certainly identify with the 'jaw displacement' feeling, which could last quite a while. It tended to be worse after multiple dives when I hadn't dived for a while, I guess through gripping on tight to the mouthpiece for 45 minutes per dive! I've found over time it has improved; I no longer generally get tense before dives and am much more relaxed in the water. As Scuba Monster suggests, keeping a relaxed pace and jaw wiggling helps; I find that just being aware gets me to release my death grip on the mouth piece slightly! Practicing removing my reg under water helped me relax too- a reminder that if it DID fall out for some reason, I wouldn't expire straight away!

 

[shark_tamer]

Another vote for bitting down too hard in your mouthpiece.

I have a molded mouthpiece on my reg ... night and day !!

Almost don't have to bite down on it !!!