Nouveautés

You might think that your regulator mouthpiece is the simplest, most anonymous element of your diving equipment. And yet, this little piece of silicone is the source of many problems. Mares has found a solution, with its Jax personalized mouthpiece.

All regulators, no matter how sophisticated they are, end with a simple mouthpiece that the diver puts in his mouth.
After the dive, about one third of divers complain of pain or creaking in the jaw joint. These symptoms are more acute in cold water, in difficult environments, and during prolonged dives. Sometimes divers even experience muscle pain in the neck and jaw.

Headaches can also be mechanical in origin, deriving from inflammation of the vascular-nervous bands located around the jaw joint, found directly in front of the external auditory conduit, 1 cm from it.
These headaches should not be confused with those caused by inhaled gases, especially carbon dioxide, whose concentration varies as a function of the diving conditions (the effort of finning action, overbreathing, etc.).
Some divers are more sensitive to these post-dive migraines related to the gas, and they remedy this problem by breathing Nitrox or pure oxygen during their decompression stop.
Headaches and creaking in the joint are caused by the effort of muscle-joint contraction required to keep the mouthpiece in place.

In fact, inserts for holding the mouthpiece have a small surface for the teeth to rest against, and therefore require significant muscular strain.
Even if you aren't aware of it, this muscular effort lasts throughout the dive. The cold water favors this contraction (consider for example the teeth chattering that often accompanies the shivers). If you then add prohibitive conditions in terms of depth and visibility, then you really find yourself clamped down on your mouthpiece!

The Jax mouthpiece is larger and easier to put in your mouth.
The surface provided for the jaw, which is often insufficient in classical mouthpieces, can generate a contraction of the jaw. But the Jax mouthpiece is ideal.

Thickness of the support surface
Physiology teaches us that when we are at rest, as when you are reading the paper, your jaws are separated by a 2 mm space, called free space. This is called the resting position. When swallowing (which happens between 1,000 and 1,500 times every day), our dental arches come briefly into contact. Working from this observation, we know that the thicker the resting surface of the mouthpiece is, the greater the discomfort will be.
The ideal would be 2 mm (resting position), but we must keep in mind the opening between the teeth to leave enough space for breathing, which is about 4 mm.

The Jax innovation: adaptation to the jaw.
It's the Jax mouthpiece, distributed by Mares, that has represented a real innovation for the last few years: finally, a personalized, "tailor-made" mouthpiece!

Manufactured in heat-moldable and extremely resistant material, it forms perfectly to the shape of your jaw in two minutes. Simply immerse it in hot water and bite down: its anatomical shape moulds to your dental arch and avoids hurting your gums.

It has two aces up its sleeve: its larger dental support surface, and perfect modeling based on the shape of the teeth.
These two elements offer excellent hold on the regulator without any contraction effort: it's no longer necessary to press your teeth together firmly or even lightly!

If necessary, the Jax mouthpiece can be reshaped multiple times; simply immerse it in hot water again. It won't affect the quality of the mouthpiece.
One important point: the fact that the mouthpiece adapts to the diver's dental arch absolutely does not prevent another diver from using the respirator for buddy breathing. The aim of this product is to improve personal comfort in the water and allow the muscles to relax, which is always welcome, and all at a reasonable price. So why deprive yourself?

(*The source of the Texts is François Brun, IANTD instructor and dental surgeon).
For more information: www.mares.com,- www.myjaxdive.com

The Jax mouthpiece is available in various colors to meet every requirement.
The Jax mouthpiece adapts to both the classical second stage and to the self-contained respirator tube.