Braces

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:04 pm

I've had the unredeemable experience of having braces put on. One good thing has come of it... it made me play my low D more than usual. I had to put away my flute every few tunes to give the inside of my mouth a break. Anyone else experiencing the joy of braces?

Erik

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:43 pm

Well, Erik, I can certainly play more confidently knowing my trousers won't be falling down but what does this have to do with the inside of your mouth? That sounds more like the reaction to a belt...

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:45 pm

Oh, no...

Let me rephrase that, Mr. Smarty-pants. I had orthodontia applied to my teeth.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:47 pm

Okay... not about suspenders... is it about flutes?

springrobin · Post by **springrobin** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:48 am

Owww, you have my sympathy. I went through this many moons ago before adhesives and rubber bands were used. The adjustment methods were absolutely barbaric by today's standards. Still, I did get used to it and so will you. Keep the analgesics handy and remember that wax is your friend!

Numex · Post by **Numex** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:47 am

Erik---- like springrobin, I had these metal wonders when methods were far more barbaric than they are today. I played silver flute in high school band and invariably, auditions for chairs were the day *after* the braces were miserably tightened (if I remember correctly, that was about once a month or so). It always took about a week or so after the braces were tightened to get a new embouchure in place, so auditions were typically ghastly affairs. Surprise (!) the band director had no sympathy for my plight of being unable to form a decent blow with what was essentially a whole new mouth each time they were tightened. Yes, wax is your friend here and your mouth will adjust; just stay away from auditions

Oh, and then there was the retainer........

I adjusted to that too, and thankfully I didn't have a new one every few weeks.
The upside is that you will probably develop a flexible, multifaceted embouchure that will work in many situations, with many flutes.

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:58 am

Thanks for the advice - and sympathy (Walden and Alan, not withstanding :p ). I suppose that I'll have to figure out how to use the wax. Yesterday and today my mouth has felt like meatloaf... the session was about 5 hours long, which is the longest that I've played since having the braces put on about a month ago. And, I haven't had them tightened yet, so I don't yet know the joys of tightening.

I used to have a problem of putting my tongue behind my lower lip to shape my embouchure and I noticed that I had a tendancy to revert to that Saturday night. I'm really going to have to watch that.

I'm too old for this!
Erik

Brewster · Post by **Brewster** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:26 pm

Hi Erik--good luck with the braces. I had mine for about 3 years. During this time, I played trumpet. (I still play trumpet--just no braces for the past 25 years.) I didn't find the wax to be very useful since the moment I applied pressure from the mouthpiece, the wax would be pushed in and I'd be back to the braces against the back of my lips. However, after a few months, I must have toughened up the skin, because it stopped hurting. It was a strange feeling to finally get rid of the braces--almost instant increase in range.

Numex, I remember all too well that week after tightening--talk about being sore. I used to hate when the orthodontist would reach in to the last molars, grab the end of the wire, and twist. Felt like everything shifted immediately.

murrough o'kane · Post by **murrough o'kane** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:07 pm

Try having 2 of your front teeth smashed in/out with some random, psychopathic idiot continually smashing your head off the brick wall of a house, while minding your own business walking home!!!

I don't think a lot of people understand how important having your teeth actually is! I have literally lost years of playing the flute now, since I got attacked in the street in a sh*t part of Belfast back in 1998.

So I can understand how even something as simple as braces can effect your playing... I feel your pain!

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 4:14 pm

Brewster wrote:It was a strange feeling to finally get rid of the braces--almost instant increase in range.

I'll look forward to that. My tone used to be my saving grace. People would say, "Your playing sucks, but your have lovely tone."

Murrough! Ouch!@! Have you been able to have any prothstetics put in or are you still playing without the front teeth? Or not playing at all?

murrough o'kane · Post by **murrough o'kane** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 4:35 pm

Have tried to play from time to time with really crappy unfinished dental work, but at times it's so frustrating, that I can't even listen to trad music, never mind play, as I know that I can't with this unfinished dental work...

I have one dental implant with a gold abbuttment on it, with a terrible, half-broken temporary crown on it, and the other implant next to it still has only a healing collar on it, so i have a big clunky acrylic plate at the roof of my mouth most of the time, which makes it more or less impossible to play with any tone or volume at all. Words can't describe how frustrating this is, as the whole embochure of your mouth is changed.

Hope you get the braces off soon!