Klarinet Archive - Posting 000179.txt from 1995/05

From: niethamer@-----.BITNET
Subj: Re: dentures
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 23:13:02 -0400

On Thu, 4 May 1995, Lynn Marie Kowach wrote:

> I recently have started teaching an older student who happens to
> wear dentures. Would this affect her embouchure (especially the top
> teeth on the mouthpiece)? She doesn't put her top teeth on and is
> blaming it on the dentures, but she admitted that she's not really sure
> if that's the problem either. Has anybody or anybody's student ever
> experienced this problem?

One of my teachers, Joe Allard, wore dentures and managed to play
sucessfully as a professional. He had a second thumb rest installed below
the first, and a section of surgical tubing connecting the two. He could
then use the right thumb to exert a gentle downward pressure on his lower
lip without so much help from the dentures on top.

David Niethamer