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Barodontalgia, commonly known as tooth squeeze and previously known as aerodontalgia, is a dental pain evoked by a change in barometric pressure, in an otherwise asymptomatic tooth.The most common victims are SCUBA divers (because in deep dives pressures can increase by several atmospheres) and military pilots (because of rapid changes in unpressurized cabins). In pilots, barodontalgia may be severe enough to cause in-flight vertigo, incapacitation, and premature cessation of flights and altitude-chamber simulations.
Most of the available data regarding barodontalgia is derived from high-altitude chamber simulations rather than actual flights.Data of altitude chamber simulations that took place in the US Air Force in the early 1940s revealed that barodontalgia incidence was between 0.74% and 2%, ranked fifth in the physiological complaints of the trainees, and third as a causative factor of premature cessation of the simulation.Between 0.23% and 0.3% of US Air Force trainees suffered from barodontalgia during altitude-chamber simulations in 1964 and 1965, respectively.
Similarly, cases of barodontalgia were reported in 0.26% of altitude-chamber simulations in the German Luftwaffe during the 1980s.
In a retrospective study done after World War II in the USAF, 9.5% of American aircrews reported one or more episodes of barodontalgia in their past flights. In a recent study, 8.2% of 331 Israeli Air Force aircrews, reported at least one episode of barodontalgia. The rate of barodontalgia was about 1 case per 100 flight-years in the Israeli Air Force.
Barodontalgia is a symptom rather than a pathologic condition itself. Barodontalgia is usually a barometric pressure-induced flare-up of pre-existing oral disease, for example inflammatory jawbone cyst.
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