My experience with orthodontics so far

[AndrewMeronek]

I've been several months on Invisalign to straighten out my teeth and correct some bite issues. I was lucky enough to find a good orthodontist who also plays some trombone - I like to think that definitely helps with communicating my concerns relating to my own tromboning.

Anyway, as far as trombone playing is concerned, my main concern was that on my lower lip, I was playing essentially on one tooth that was noticeably farther forward than the others. I suspected at the time that this was causing endurance problems. Now that my lower teeth are getting straightened out (not even finished yet), I'm noticing some notable improvement in my endurance; thus, either my suspicion was right or I have a great case of placebo effect going on. One practical measure: in Tom Kubis' chart "When You're Smiling" the end is a great build up in intensity, with the lead trombone line going up to a high D at one point, with not a whole lot of rest on the page leading up to that point. Before, I couldn't really do that; now I can, with reasonably good tone.

That's not to say that it's for sure that correcting the alignment of my lower teeth has been the main cause of this - lots of things are moving at once and maybe I'm also just practicing better - but IMHO it's worth considering. It's difficult to really figure out what kinds of dental work actually make a difference in trombone playing (and more generally, in brass playing) and what kinds don't.

[Doug Elliott]

A protruding tooth that causes part of the lip to receive a lot of mouthpiece pressure is a big problem. I think you're doing the right thing for the right reason.

[AndrewMeronek]

I'm a little over half-way through right now. My teeth aren't straightened out fully yet; given the progress I've already seen I'm now kind of impatient to get to the endgame.

[Schlitz]

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[AndrewMeronek]

It took about two weeks to get used to them. I’m very fortunate that I don’t have any of the clips on my front ones.

Yeah, that's one thing I talked with my orthodontist about, to try to get a system that has no studs or clips on the teeth that get mouthpiece pressure. All mine are on some teeth behind my canines. I suspect this isn't possible for some people, though.

[hyperbolica]

I've always suspected that people with a bit of a V in their top front teeth got some sort of advantage in high range. Not sure if that's true, but I've always avoided getting my teeth straightened for that reason.

Plus, I was studying in music school when my wisdom teeth started to come in and changed everything about my embouchure. Playing was painful, but it really wasn't an option to stop playing until my teeth settled. I'm not sure I'd want to go through anything like that again.

Any comment on the V <=> high range connection?

[Schlitz]

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[AndrewMeronek]

Any comment on the V <=> high range connection?

That's the kind of thing I'm pretty skeptical about. There are some amazing players who have that feature; there are more amazing players who do not. I think there needs to be a lot more data looked at scientifically before justifying that kind of dental work. Or, if the data is out there, tell us where it is.

[Doug Elliott]

In my opinion there is absolutely no merit to the idea that a V in the front teeth helps anything except the orthodontist who creates it for you.

[hyperbolica]

In my opinion there is absolutely no merit to the idea that a V in the front teeth helps anything except the orthodontist who creates it for you.

No, I've never known anyone who had that feature intentionally. You must associate with a different class of people if you know folks who can do that. It was just something I heard, and all the people I know with ridiculous high ranges have a natural V in their teeth. No academic study, just casual observation.

[Schlitz]

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[timothy42b]

Any comment on the V <=> high range connection?

I think that was in Farkas's Art of Brass Playing. He thought people with flatter teeth had mellower tones and ended up doing better on tuba or euphonium, people with more v shaped teeth had more brilliance and played trumpet and trombone. I could be misremembering, I'll try to find my copy.

The guy who did Anatowind around Chicago had a theory that we all center our embouchure around a "crown tooth," not necessarily a symmetrical position.

[hyperbolica]

It was done by a couple of trumpet players in the Naval Academy Band, back in the day. Military dental is its own nightmare.

Interesting. I was in a navy band in the 80s. That's whete I knew a couple screech players with V teeth. Must be where I heard that.

[timothy42b]

I found my copy of Farkas. Nope, I remembered wrong, the V shaped teeth thing was not in there. Probably I got that out of Anatowind.

I was a little surprised to re-read what he wrote way back then, and how strange some of it seemed.

He insisted that horns should place the mouthpiece high, 2/3 upper lip, and trumpets the reverse, 2/3 lower lip, and allowed that trombones were a little more variable, but attributed that to mouthpiece size.

He also addressed what he called lateral pressure and Reinhardt would call motion, and thought it was always a bad thing.

Interestingly his photo of Arnold Jacobs does show pretty close to a 50/50 placement.