Dental Braces ~ I hated them!

[G.W.K]

I got a fixed "train-track" brace when I was younger. I hated every minute of it! Especially trying to eat.

Did anyone else wear dental braces? What did you do?

Just wondering...because I had 2 years of annoyance.

G.W.K

[wotgoplunk]

This thread arrived just in time.

My dentist just recommended I wear braces.

Apparently my upper jaw is constricted, which is causing a crossbite. And the only solution is 18 months of braces. I've been adamantly refusing, since there's actually only a 1 in 3 chance that anything will go wrong in later life.

It seems as though I have to have it done before the jaw bones fuse together, or else it'll be a more painful procedure. So I'm going to rely on modern technology getting better in the event it does cause complications.

Also, does anyone know what effects braces would have on playing brass or woodwind instruments?

[quantum]

I leaned to play clarinet while wearing them.  I had an underbite, so I guess it improved my embrochure. 

[thierry13]

Also, does anyone know what effects braces would have on playing brass or woodwind instruments?

Not from my personal experience, but it will definitely hinder your playing.

[wotgoplunk]

Not from my personal experience, but it will definitely hinder your playing.

That's what I would be thinking, and why I'm so reluctant to get them.

I could never get a decent mark in music class if it's going to hinder my playing.

[quantum]

I thought that too.  But it's only a couple of years.  You have the rest of your life to play with a hopefully better skeletal alignment. 

Which wind instrument do you play?

[wotgoplunk]

Just clarinet at the moment, but you're technically supposed to start a new instrument per year, for the next two years.

Which would probably mean Oboe and Euphonium for me.

I'm still unsure about their necessity at any rate. The way it's been explained sounds like there's no problem at the moment, only a possibility of one developing.

[quantum]

Interesting.  When I was starting in band: reeds stayed reeds, brass stayed brass.  It wasn't recommended to double on brass if you were a reed player and vice versa as the difference in sound production may mess up your embrochure.

[wotgoplunk]

I think they're after making everyone more well rounded. It's sort of discouraged to play one instrument the whole way through, because you have to demonstrate considerable improvement rather than just skill.

You could be a virtuoso clarinettist, but if you've done it your whole life, you still wouldn't get as many marks as someone who learned a brand new instrument and did well.

Keeps it interesting playing a variety of instruments as well. 

[Bob]

Braces can hurt high brass.  Trumpets, French horns.  Small mouthpieces that put a little pressure on the teeth.  Low brass can handle it better.  There are morgen bumpers and brace guard things, wax, but that doesn't always help and some people don't like it.

Woodwinds that have their teeth around the mouthpiece can do better.  

But if you're putting a mouthpiece in your mouth, the tiniest things are going to feel like big changes.  

Some are successful.  Some aren't.  From what I understand it take at least a few weeks to adjust to.  Some people say the inside of the lip has to scar up a bit and heal.

Generally negative though I would say.  Moreso for high brass.  Sometimes it can motivate a student if they suddenly sound like crap and have to relearn how to play.  And carefully if there are braces waiting to cut the lips.  

And the timing.  Junior high, high school.  That's prime time for most people playing an instrument.  That can really damage or wipe out someone's playing.  They go from being near the top to being last chair.  That can really damage a student's motivation for music.  Even after the braces come off, they've still lost all that practicing time to develop that the others had.  But it can vary.

They do have thinner braces now and invisible ones.  Ones that go back behind the teeth.  I think there are a lot more options now.  

But it's also the formation of your permanent teeth.  If most people quit band after high school, you're talking about 50+ years of having those permanent teeth set that way.  What's a few years of less-than-perfect experiences in music?

[wotgoplunk]

But it's also the formation of your permanent teeth.  If most people quit band after high school, you're talking about 50+ years of having those permanent teeth set that way.  What's a few years of less-than-perfect experiences in music?

But the problem is that it's for school. I have to take music in Grade 10 if I want to take it in Grade 11, etc.

So missing a year is not an option.

And I wouldn't particularly like to sacrifice my marks either, dropping in music drops my entire average, which ideally I'd like to keep up.

It's quite the dilemma.

[pianochick93]

I have never had to wear braces and I hope I never will.

Watgoplunk, why don't you learn flute? I know many flute players with braces, and nothing seems to be wrong with them.

My boyfriend got braces about a year and a bit ago, and at that time he played trumpet. It hurt too much, so he had to take up trombone, then he got them tightened, and it started hurting too much to play trombone.

On a brighter side, there are plenty of instruments out there that don't require embouchure. How about a string instrument like a harp, violin, or cello? Maybe percussion, maybe....ok, I'm out of ideas.

I will have to check all of the clarinet players next time I go to band practice, but I'm pretty sure that at least one of them would have braces. From what I know of playing clarinet (not much!) It shouldn't effect it too much.

[Kassaa]

7th of April FINALLY they will be removed from my precious mouth. Totally sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t when eating, everything looks absolutely GROSS after you ate something, especially rice and stuff. Luckily I don't play a wind instrument.

[G.W.K]

I hated braces...but you are best getting them young and you won't regret it later. Can't kiss or anything with the brace I had (). LOL

I played French Horn and when I got a brace it was a nightmare! Had to move onto the tuba, with the larger mouthpeice. Don't know about woodwind playing.

G.W.K

[quantum]

I'm wondering if it is possible to play a double reed with them?  My experience on clarinet and sax wasn't so bad.  It felt weird at first but then you adapt quite quickly. 

[lau]

i loved having braces i want to have them back, it didn't affect playing the trombone at all.

[gyzzzmo]

Never had one. My teeth arent perfectly lined, but they gladly werent bad enough for having to wear all that iron in my mouth.

[G.W.K]

It's not iron...

G.W.K

[thalbergmad]

Better to have braces than teeth like a Victorian graveyard.

One of my ex girlfriends could eat an apple through a tennis racket. I bet she wished she had braces when she was younger.

Thal