 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2015-03-08 16:54
Had 2 teeth (#15 and #19) pulled last Monday, played again for first time yesterday (Sat). That would be 5 days off, bad enough. But one of the extractions was a root canal gone bad (more common than I knew), which had caused ever increasing pain for a week until docs figured it out. So all together I missed 11 play days. Pretty sure that's the longest stretch since I restarted clarinet in 2010, though I've had some illnesses of 3, 4, even 5 days.
So... yesterday I wondered what I'd get. I had been in the middle of breakin and eval of 2 new kinds of reeds from Brad Benh- Leuthner and AW, so already a bit mixed up. Jury was and is still out. And we have a houseguest- so I also had an audience...
The session went way better than I had any right to expect. That parallels previous shorter forced "vacations", there's always a bit of freshness mixed in with the staleness. I'll be fully back in business in another day or 3. The tooth sites did wake up when I started- "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"- made me wonder if I should have waited longer. But they quickly went back to sleep and I didn't notice them the rest of the session. Maybe I could have restarted on day 3 or 4 instead of 5? ...nah...
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2015-03-08 16:58)
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Author: mddds
Date: 2015-03-09 03:04
stan,
you invite a dry socket when you start before 5 days. that would have bought you 7-14 days of no play right there, plus a lot of resting pain and throbbing.
5 days is the earliest that patients are recommend to wait to restart things.
younger patients bounce back faster.
I would wait the same amount of time after you replace the teeth with implants.
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2015-03-09 06:52
Thanks for the info. Glad I didn't push it too fast. Today was nice. Absolutely no effect of lost teeth on playing. My old tooth might have been infected for some time- it WAS affecting my play, and eventually made me stop until I got it dealt with.
Upper left tooth will not be missed, the same one other side was extracted some years ago (I'm 61). Lower left tooth (the failed root canal) is another matter. I can already tell I can live (and chew) without it. Not sure I want to pay the $$$$ and time and all for either an implant or (better choice I think) bridge. If I win the lottery I may reconsider (which would be more likely if I bought more than 1 ticket every year or 2).
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2015-03-09 18:25)
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2015-03-11 20:03
I think people stress a little too much about time off the horn. Will your embouchure get weaker? Yup. Will it take you time to recover? Yup. But you will you lost so much technique and embouchure that it'll take months to get back to where you were? Nope.
Talk to any military bandsmen (DC bands, premiere bands) and ask them what happened after having to attend basic training. They're still fantastic players and they still got their abilities back. And that's after 10 weeks off the horn.
Heal correctly, and then when that's over, build those muscles back up. If anything, finger through scales and pieces to keep your technique from slowly eroding. You'll be ok!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2015-03-11 20:57
Hey, Stan...If you play the piano or organ, this would be an ideal time to log some extra practice time at the keyboard. You'll keep your reading skills and pitch memory sharp while away from the clarinet.
Best Regards...Greg
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2015-03-11 21:23
How many high school or college students go an entire summer without playing? Could a clarinet major get away with this? I bet it's been done!
I was just miffed at an unexpected and unwanted break, but wasn't really concerned about any long term effect.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2015-03-12 00:26
Fair. Guess I misunderstood and thought you were trying to try before the full healing period had elapsed.
Hope the rest allows you decompress. Listen to some good music and set some new goals or ideas in your head to explore when you get back to it!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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