Dental barotrauma.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to review the current knowledge regarding dental barotrauma.

METHODS: A search using the PubMed Bibliographic Index and Index-Medicus was performed to identify articles in English that were published between 1930 and 2007. The reference lists of the resulting articles were searched to find publications relating to dental barotrauma.

RESULTS: Only a few scientific publications reported this phenomenon. Moreover, a significant part of the relevant literature was from more than 60 years ago. There was no published study on the current incidence rate of this phenomenon.

CONCLUSION: Besides other oral manifestations of barometric pressure changes, such as barodontalgia (barometric pressure-related oral pain), a clinician should be familiar with this entity and take preventive measures as well as periodically examine his or her patients who fly planes or scuba dive. The clinician should also search for occult pathologies such as leaking restorations or secondary caries lesions. In addition, the clinician should be aware of the possible influence of pressure changes on the retention of prosthetic devices and plan treatment accordingly.