General remarks on the role of the teeth for wind instrument players

It is needless to emphasize nowadays that the teeth and the way they are set in the mouth are of the utmost importance to the wind-instrument player.

To produce a sound by pressing the instrument's mouthpiece on external surfaces (by way of the circular muscles) or on internal surfaces (by way of the tongue) causes something like an almost constant attack on different parts of the mouth and teeth during professional performance. This will bring forth:

1. favorable modifications, i.e. adaptation of the attacked parts to the strain, or
2. unfavorable modifications, i.e. a deformation of these parts.

To be able to distinguish between the two, it is necessary to have an early plaster-cast of the inside of the player’s mouth and a later one. Only when these two casts can be compared can conclusions be drawn about certain technical particularities of the instrumentalist and a way be found to solve the problems or to cure the damage. There are other ways to examine the modifications, e.g., by teleradiography or by methods practised in facial and dental as well as jaw surgery.