My teeth

When did I become conscious of the important role of my teeth in my career as a trumpeter? Of course only on the day the dentist discovered a disastrous carie. The damage was such that he had to saw off a front tooth (which partly supported my mouthpiece) and replace it by a metal stub attached to the — fortunately still sane — root, as a basis for the porcelain tooth. This method (jacket crown) is supposed to be safer than the simple pivot tooth: should the porcelain break, at least the metal stub remains, and the tooth can be replaced without delay.