 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tad
Date: 2000-04-04 15:16
1= As you play the clarinet for years:
Do your upper front teeth shift forward, or stick out, making your mouth look like as if you were always pouting your lips?
2= In so-called "clarinet face," are the upper front teeth shifted forward?
3= Approximately how many of you, clarinetters, have "clarinet face"?
Thank you.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-04-04 17:15
Tad wrote:
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1= As you play the clarinet for years:
Do your upper front teeth shift forward, or stick out, making your mouth look like as if you were always pouting your lips?
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Never happened to me and don't see anything like this among my fellow clarinet players.
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Author: Sarah
Date: 2000-04-04 18:39
That sounds absurd. I've been playing for 11 years and my teeth are still the same.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2000-04-04 20:08
And one can also play with a double embouchure, which means that your teeth don't come into it at all.
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Author: Katherine Pincock
Date: 2000-04-05 03:00
Teeth do move slightly as you play, enough that forensic dentists can specify what type of woodwind instrument someone played; however, the movement is so small that it shouldn't create any distortion of the face at all.
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Author: Ron D
Date: 2000-04-05 05:36
I asked my dentist about this and he told me that for a adult player the chance was very slight but a greater risk (minimal) exist for very young players who have not physicaly matured.
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Author: Jim
Date: 2000-04-06 04:09
After my son (now 16) had his braces taken off 3 years ago, the Orthodontist was concerned that his bite was changing from where they had set it. He recommended extration of unerupted wisdom teeth, but could not guarantee that this would correct the problem. I didn't want to unnecessarily put him through the pain or me through the expense. (The braces etc. cost $5,000!) I then began to suspect the clarinet playing (he practices at least an hour a day, often more) and at that time he had just started on bass clarinet with its larger mouthpiece. The Orthodontist agreed that the clarinet might explain the movement, and his general dentist felt fairly sure. (He actually played the instrument for her to see.) She suggested wearing retainers well beyond what the Orthodontist required, and this has seemed to work. Two years later, the wisdom teeth are still in place and the bite seems stabilized. (He started with an awlful overbite, and classic crowding of the teeth. His smile is great now.)
On the other hand, I've played the instrument on and off for almost 40 years, started with a normal bite and am told that it still is.
I would suggest that anyone concerned about changes in bite or tooth position discuss it with their regular dentist, or consult an orthodontist.
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Author: Erin :)
Date: 2000-04-07 23:12
Well, I know that my teeth move at least slightly when I have been playing for a while because when I put my retainers in at night they are very tight... I know a lot of clarinet players my age still wear their retainers at night even though they have been brace-free for years... also, I still have a very slight overbite that my orthodontist was just not able to correct because I played so often. She told me that to get it perfect I would have to stop playing for a few months... This was in my senior year in high school. Yeah, right...
Erin
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Author: Shadow Cat
Date: 2000-04-09 19:57
People who are in the process of having orthodontic work done have slightly loosened teeth, probably a bit vulnerable to pressure of the mouthpiece, but still, the braces or retainers stay in place 24/7, while the clarinet stays in the mouth for, at most, five or six hours per day -- way less than that for most people ;-) ! I have a slight overbite, within normal limits (not the Bugs Bunny type overbite) and haven't noticed any changes in my teeth. I even asked my dentist about this when I first returned to playing as an adult. He said that he once advised a high school student to stop playing the clarinet temporarily. The kid had been in a bicycle accident and severely loosened both front "beaver teeth," which had to be more or less re-implanted. The dentist asked the student to give up the clarinet while this extensive dental surgery healed, and for a few months afterwards, to make sure the repair would hold firmly. Otherwise, my dentist believes that as long as a person's mouth is basically normal (no unusual stresses on a malformed jaw, for instance), playing the clarinet isn't a significant risk.
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-04-09 20:01
I wrote the above, not Shadow Cat. I see she's been busy again and left her monicker on MY sneezy.org cookie; but I'm sure if she'd posted anything, she would have spit a while pile of little toads about how the clarinet causes this, that and the other horrible malady and we should all give it up. Anyhow, her little fangs wouldn't fit around a clarinet mpc and she hasn't been to the dentist lately, AFAIK. ;-)
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Author: Stingo
Date: 2000-04-12 18:12
Yeah, teeth may move a bit, but don't get too concerned about it unless you are having work done - as stated.
I've been playing 35 years - my teeth don't give it away, it's the curve on the lower lip that does (=;
I wonder if this means that a tuba or trumpet player would have their teeth bashed in over time...?
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