Wire tie

I have attempted to upload a picture of my wire tie on my wonky tooth. I have a moderately crowded arch on the bottom set of teeth, and my ortho made it clear from the start that she wasn't going to go down the extraction route. I have had a metal tie on the bottom tooth at the front (looks a bit blurry in the pic but you get the idea) to try and force it forward, I'd imagine. Its the second time in my 6 week adjustment I have this on my teeth. The only slightly amusing thing is that it shows my caffeine addiction on that tooth as there are coffee marks as the tooth moves!! I am *so* having my teeth whitened once the braces are off....

TBH I was dreading playing with extra metal in my mouth, but its not made much difference. I am playing quite well in the middle register at the moment, but the upper register is failing miserably still.... slightly *less* miserably than a few months ago though!!! At least the top 'A' and sometimes Bb is coming out 9 times out of 10. Can't wait for these things to come off my face and see the improvement in my playing. Its weird because my teeth moving have also affected slurring/tonguing etc as the space within my mouth has changed and so I've also had to adjust triple and double tonguing (yes, I can hear non-musicians sniggering at this!).

BTW - Bring on the areas after the 2nd at Leicester - well done City of Cambridge Brass Band! :D

Long time

Sorry it has been a long time since my last blog, but I've had some pretty catastrophic news lately. Enough on that, but....

Anyway, on braces - i have finally had a new wire on the bottom arch - Reverse arch wire!! Also on my most twisted tooth in the bottom arch I have a wire instead of an elastic ligature to twist my tooth into place. The only weird thing is you can see the coffee stain move on my tooth as it is twisted back into position! I am so having my teeth whitened after this is all over.....

Article

The final line of this article sums up exactly why I am in braces for the second time, and makes a VERY good point about how much emphasis is put on retainers.

I am not saying it was ortho's fault as I made the decision not to wear them after the braces came off. She was evil though - especially with those spacers! OUCH!!!! New one is a lot nicer.

Appointment a week tomorrow. Really hoping I get a new wire on the bottom, and hopefully even on the top its been so long. I've lost a lot of the bands again, but they stayed on a lot better this time. It is just because I haven't had an appointment for nearly two months now that a lot of them have perished and dropped off.

Demotivated again

Feel a be demotivated again, which is not great. Nothing to do with band in general, but not enjoying the test piece, I have to say, and I am struggling with elements of it. I will write more soon, but off to rehearsal in a while.

Also, the ortho cancelled my last appointment because of sickness, so I have been nearly two and a half months between adjustments. They are supposed to be every 6 weeks, so I am hoping it wont delay my progress. The quicker I get these bloooooody things off my teeth and onto the retainer stage, the better!

Waterpik

I bought a Waterpik to help clean behind the brackets and I've finally managed to learn to use it without soaking myself/the walls/the ceiling/the floor etc!

I've got the 'ultra' one because it had an orthodontic attachment with it. It seems just to be a fine rubber tip on the end of the plastic tube, but it is quite effective. The first couple of times I used it my gums absolutely poured with blood (EWWWWW!) but they seem to have settled down now, and I am getting used to using it now so its a lot more effective than just brushing. I'd definitely recommend using one as its much more comfortable than flossing with braces on, and seems to be effective at reaching into places that might have been missed. To be honest, there is no point going to the trouble of straightening my teeth if they are going to all drop out when I am finished with treatment!!!

Got my 'normal' dentist check up in three weeks, and then the ortho the monday after. Have to admit that I have removed the ligatures from my front two teeth. They had gone a really horrible colour and I am having to wait 8 weeks for my next appointment. I have to have my new staff photo tomorrow and I'm not having gross looking braces for a picture that is going to be in the front bloody entrance of the school!!! As the front teeth are the ones being pulled back the wire is kept in place quite easily by all of the other brackets and ligs.

New Mouthpiece?

I am losing a serious amount of air out the side of my face on the left side when I am playing. Where the (evil-hooked) bracket sits on the canine tooth it is preventing my lips from creating a seal with the heritage mouthpiece, and unfortunately as my teeth move, the problem is getting worse as the arch returns to its normal place.

I am going to try a mouthpiece with a wider rim to see if that helps. Probably wont help my high range, but as it is pretty much non-existent past top G I can't see that being a problem.... I can squeeze out about two top A's and then I die at the moment. It was getting better before the break, but the two weeks we had off killed me. I don't know what it is about home practise, but its not the same of two solid hours of band. Grrr, its like going back 10 years to when I started on Cornet!

Where did I put that damn Clarinet again....?! ;)

Practise makes?

Holiday from band - 2 weeks off! Great on the old bank balance, but not so great on the lip, especially as we have a concert in just under three weeks. The programme is quite a heavy blow - including Festive Overture to finish (love it, but it goes on and on and on!) and I'm sure Indiana Jones will be in there somewhere. I love Festive Overture - it proves certain things to me, but the less said about that the better. I am a much better player than I was a few years ago, and its nice to feel that some people have confidence in my ability. Finding the right mouthpiece was part of it, I do love the Heritage range by Denis Wick. I've had endless discussions with various people about it, and a mouthpiece really is a personal choice. The braces aren't really helping, but sometimes at the moment I am getting this really, really lovely sound - even better than pre-braces. It just stamina that is currently the problem. On Friday I was practising hymn tunes in the afternoon, just working on production etc, and someone stood outside my front door listening to me play for about 10 minutes! Not sure if that is flattering or just plain weird....

Last week my friend from Yorkshire, Geoff, came down for a visit with his other half. We spent most of the weekend talking about brass bands, and he brought Elvis down a tape to have a listen to. Amazing the sound of the bands he used to play with in the 80s - its funny how he *always* tells me about beating Dyke at the area!!!! Claims to fame, eh ;)

I have been practising the test piece for Folkestone Contest, which is in a few months. The piece has got quite a lot of double tonguing in it, if played correctly. I'm not quite sure of what speed we are aiming for, but as my front teeth have moved back significantly its all coming out a bit 'fluffy' at the moment. Practise makes, eh?

3rd Adjustment picture on its own

I'm publishing a picture of just my teeth from yesterday on here because I want to post a picture on the Metal Mouth message board :)

Adjustment 3

Hurrah! I have got a thicker wire on the top, so hopefully I should start to see some real movement there again. My teeth ache a little, so it'll be interesting to see what happens at band tonight. Elvis spent all of the weekend watching a brass band competition in Welsh, so I thought I'd do some practise and it didn't go so well.

I'm so disheartened at the moment with banding. I'd feel better if someone at least said to me 'I know its hard, I know you're trying, and you've improved a lot since they were first put on. Stick with it!' No, apparently not.....

It's so hit and miss with pitching, and I have to be so careful and I am determined not to cause a callous on my lip from playing. Also (shhh!!) getting a bit fed up with the traveling up and down the country. I enjoy band, but after spending nearly four years now doing nearly an hours commute to band its starting to get me down, and my poor car is showing some real signs of excessive mileage (132,000 miles roughly on a 7 year old Fiesta). Now I've got quite a demanding job and trying to do the MA on top of it, I'm so much more exhausted in the evenings now so things have changed a lot since I first started doing roughly 40 miles to band. The only problem is because Elvis is playing in the same band, I feel bad if I stop playing, and I'm not even sure I really want to, if I'm completely honest? I just don't want an hours commute and a kings ransom in petrol.... plus I'm now paying subs on top of that.

Cut lip

Its now the summer holidays - hurray! I was planning to do a little practise each day to improve range and stamina, but last Wednesday I quite badly cut my lip on the bracket on the upper right canine tooth. I tried doing a little playing the day after, but it made the split worse so I have not picked up the Cornet until it is completely healed.

I also might have a go at using this, which someone recommended on The Mouthpiece.

Ligatures

I am getting fed up with the ligs coming off my brackets. Unless I want to eat soup and nothing else for the next two and half years then I seem to be resigned to them popping off. I think I might have a chat with the orthodontist at my next appointment and ask if I can have coloured bands down the bottom of the brace so I can see what is causing them to pop off. The wire keeps popping out on the other side of the brace too, so I'm a little fed up with them at the moment.

Last night we went out for dinner and the hook on the bottom right canine decided to be evil and has gouged a big hole out of my cheek. Nice

:/

D.I.S.C.O.... D.I.S.C....oh bugger.....

Broken one of my brackets on, stupidly enough, a pack of DISCO crisps!! Wont be eating those again. The bracket is still attached to the wire, but not the tooth. Its the bracket on the top left canine tooth. Whoops...... Back to the ortho in 3 weeks, going to leave it and ask if I should have come in next time I see her.

I have had my braces on two months today!! Time absolutely flies when its er..... impossible to eat, and almost impossible to play the cornet!

I managed the whole of Beethoven's 5th of 1st trumpet with ELLSO last night (LOTS of top A's). Wasn't as powerful as the previous concert, but at least the range and pitching was almost as good as pre-braces. Fills me with confidence that all will return to normal, and when the braces come off I will have amazing amounts of stamina. Or, alternatively I guess I could just be shockingly poor! LOL

Food and ligs

I keep loosing the ligs on the bottom two brackets on either side of my mouth. Basically, if you bite into anything crunchy (like a piece of apple) then it can force the wire down between my back two brackets, and this 'pops' off the ligatures holding down the wire. This happened on Monday, and the wire can come out of the bracket at the end which holds the entire wire in place (the 'tube' bracket, as it is sometimes called).

I went back to the ortho on Tuesday to have the two ligs on the right side replaced and the wire returned to the 'tube' bracket at the back. The funny thing is I only started chewing on the right side after I had the infection in my wisdom tooth on the left side four weeks ago. So after having the right side done, I switched back to chewing on the left and now I have lost those ligs too!!!! Luckily the wire hasn't popped out the tube bracket, so if I am careful for the next four weeks I can keep it in place.

I had Tuesday morning off of work to go into the ortho to get the ligatures replaced (luckily it was my free morning as Year 12 were off and I had a free period) and there were two kids there in the uniform of my first school I taught in (Year 7s I think, so I didn't recognise them)!!! So glad the kids at my current school get sent to a different area for their orthodontic work!!!

6 weeks in....

...and the first adjustment. Not time for a new wire yet, but the ortho has tightened up my current wire and changed all the ligs so my brace is invisible again! Didn't think they had stained that badly, but you can definitely see the difference.

Braceeze

Braceeze - in a word, no. No good for cornet playing because it doesn't set hard enough. Its very squishy even after it has set. Its pretty good for the brackets which don't have any pressure on them (for example, at the side of the mouth) but no good for the front. As soon as you put any pressure on (even slight) it squishes out the way and you are left with bare wires, which is no good at all.

The killer combo seems to be braceeze at the sides and dollop of wax over the front wire. Progress is steady but sometimes painful and frustrating. Felt like giving up last night. I am better with stuff I don't have to sight read as I have more confidence in what I need to play and where I am pitching. Progress today though - I managed to get out my first top B natural above the stave!!!

I also have my new wire installed and in a weeks time - cant wait to see if it closes the gap on the left side of my mouth between the front and side teeth, and the difference it makes to my bottom teeth, which are still a mess.

For the first time in my life I have NO gap between my front teeth!! : )

OOOOOWWWCHHH!

Had an infected wisdom tooth - my god, the pain!!! It was nothing to do with the braces, but it was two teeth back from where the final bracket sits. Seven days of constant awful toothache and some hard-core antibiotics later, and I seem to be relatively back to normal. There is a small chance I might have to have the stupid wisdom tooth (don't why it's called a 'wisdom' tooth when it doesn't seem very clever to me....) removed. I have got a follow-up appointment at the dentist on Tuesday next week to make sure its all cleared up, but if they take the damn thing out I will be quite happy. Never felt pain quite like it!

On the plus side, the evil mouthwash the dentist gave me cleaned my brackets quite nicely!

Two weeks in!

Two weeks in and there has been some movement!!

The top picture is the day they were put in
The middle picture is week 1
The bottom picture is today

Phew!!

Just got back from the ortho - apparently my little lig wasn't broken, it was just because my front tooth is so twisted it doesn't sit in the bracket properly? So I was just being overcautious! :)

Uh oh.....

Hmmm .... seem to have knocked one of the little ligature wires off of my brace so the wire isn't sitting properly in my brace .... uh oh!! Going to ring the ortho tomorrow and see if they want me to come in. Can already feel my teeth have moved a bit in the wrong direction as they were very achy. TBH it IS hardly noticeable, but because I am a little obsessed on where the wires etc go I noticed it this afternoon.

Result!!!

Well, I am happy! Seem to be approaching something akin to normality with my braces. They have stopped rubbing and I got all the way through a rehearsal last night with no stresses. The clear wax was a bit squishy, so I might go back to the thicker, coloured stuff. Bit concerned about them staining my braces, but seemed to be okay with the purple wax.

I have also included a more updated picture today as (it might be in my head) but I am convinced my front teeth are looking straighter already.

There is hope!!

Well, yesterday I attempted my second band rehearsal. I smothered the top of my brace with bright purple wax (Trust me.... an attractive look!) and off I went......

What can I say ...................... 2000% better!!! Last Wednesday I managed one hymn tune and a whole lot of horrible noise, this week I managed an entire rehearsal on front row!!!!! Had to finished 15 minutes before the end as I could start to feel it digging in and I didn't want to push it too much, but all in all a much better experience.

So, my main aims are to

• develop my ability to play quietly
  
• develop my range back up to B above the stave
• develop my stamina

Still can't quite manage that elusive top A though.
I am already looking forward to May 11th 2012 - I am going to have a curry and a bottle of red wine! They all banned because of the ties that go around the ceramic brackets will stain and then my braces will be much more noticeable.

5 days down, 700-odd to go!

Range is returning slowly. Wax is a big help. Got to stick with it I guess.... Ha - stick with it, geddit ;)

Tone isn't amazing, but I'm sure that (as well as 'A' above the stave) will return in time. Yesterday I was playing easily and comfortably up to an 'F' on the top line of the stave. I am wondering if tomorrow's rehearsal will be less painful and more productive than last Wednesdays. Stamina is also a 'small' issue.

D... E.... F .... G... A.... B.... C.... D

I am having to wear my comfort covers basically all the time on my bottom set of teeth during the evening. Last night I ordered some 'braceeze' online and a lot of wax because of the pain. I had really heavy KS3 teaching day yesterday which involved a lot of singing and talking, and by the end of it I was in so much pain I had to cancel the school band and just go home. I am determined THAT will never happen again. Basically, the two brackets which sit on your canines have little 'hooks' on them. I tell you - these hooks are the spawn of Satan! The rest of the brackets are fine, but these hooks are digging in like crazy and have resulted in an ulcer the size of a penny on the bottom right-hand side of my mouth by my tooth.

I gave myself last night off of the cornet. Pulled it out tonight and I've mostly been practising easy scales - C major, D major, E major, Bb major- over and over again until i get used to pitching again. I figure my technique is still here - its just hidden behind a mess of ceramic and metal wires at the moment. So its not all terrible, but it's certainly not great. *sigh*

Onwards and upwards .... slowly and painfully.

On the plus side - the kids at school have been amazing, and hardly anyone has really noticed I have braces (especially teaching staff - had to point them out to the people I work with!!!). A few of them were puzzled about why I actually NEEDED them in the first place, so maybe the overbite was really all in my head ;)

Instrument of Torture

So ... its official. My cornet has become an instrument of torture. After a stressful hour on the front row last night I gave up and moved onto second cornet, mainly so I could sort my pitching. Was all going swimmingly 'till Steve pulled out 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'!!! So frustrating!! Music and notes which were second nature have now become an impossibility.

My mouth is covered in cuts, and I have an ulcer which is the size of penny.

Let's hope the only way is up..... and past the note 'D' on the fourth line! :o

Braces on!!

Well, I went down to the orthodontist today for my three o'clock appointment. After two x-rays and a set of impressions they fitted the brace!! Scary!! It took about 20 minutes in total, I was home by 15.50pm. Feels a bit huge at the moment. I have ceramic braces which are bigger than metal ones. Luckily the bit I hated most of metal braces - those evil rings that are forced over your back teeth - are not used on a ceramic system so I was spared that hideousness again. The funny thing was because they are clear they were put on with coloured 'dots' on them (which brush off with the toothbrush) so they looked VERY strange when they were first put on.

Feels a bit scratchy but that is probably because I am a bit crazy and the first thing I did when I got home was try and get a note out of my Cornet! First attempt - middle C, D, E, F, G, A, B.... *splurt*. Eventually after adjusting my embouchure a few times I got up to 'E' on the fourth space up.

I can feel it rubbing in two places which is a bit concerning, but I will get some wax if its a real problem. I also dont seem to be able to chew which is ALSO a bit concerning?!

Pre-braces playing

.... of the cornet kind.

Currently I sit fourth man down at Cambridge Brass Band. I was on 2nd Man down for a while, but after deciding I DEFINITELY wanted braces about four weeks ago I had a chat with our conductor, and offered to move down the line. We have a concert in Ely Cathedral in two weeks time and this way it takes the pressure off me somewhat. Its a good job Matt arrived and is doing a fab job moving up one (much better than me tbh!!).

I can currently play (easily and comfortably) up to a Top B. I use A on 3rd valve as the 2nd and 1st combo on my Xeno cornet is generally sharp. I'm using a Denis Wick Heritage 4b mouthpiece which I have been playing on for nearly a year now. I am hoping that the flatter rim will help somewhat as I have lost the pressure ring I used to have on my face from playing on the bog standard 4b, and playing where I am has increased my stamina and confidence no end.

So, lets destroy that by adding a ring of metal to my face.... yey.....

Pre-Braces Two

This is the second time I have had braces. The first time was when I was aged 12 and I think they were taken off around my 18th birthday. My bite was misaligned, and I had a removable top brace, followed by fixed bottom, then fixed bottom and top, then a night brace and then finally a retainer that was adjusted to pull the teeth inwards. My teeth were great until I stopped wearing the retainer .... BIG mistake! I guess I am lucky in that the treatment will only last two years this time, rather than nearly 6, because my bite is now perfect, its just the top and bottom front teeth that have moved. Lucky me :/

I didn't 't play a brass instrument then, but I did play Clarinet (and all through this I was playing in a wind band and working towards my Grade 8). I remember the main pain being with the wires cutting in rather than the brackets themselves, but most of the time it didn't bother me too much. The main pain was with the bottom teeth. Read some interesting stuff about how, if you don't adjust your embouchure, you can develop callouses which will NEVER go away and will do permanent damage to your playing. Eek!! I did ask about invisalign but apparently it wont do the job that is needed - its a fixed brace or nothing.

I guess the only thing to do is wait and see......

Pre-Braces

So, last weekend brace-free for two years apparently. I have received both the Jet-Tone lip protector and the Comfort Covers in the post. At first glance I am more convinced the Jet-Tone is going to be more successful. It actually clips onto the arch wires, where as the comfort covers look like they are too flimsy to stay on with any pressure. A cornet player that uses pressure?! Shocking....

Got to get rid of those three bottles of red too, as I'm having ceramic braces and apparently the elastics are more likely to stain with red wine, coffee (gulp!) and red pasta sauce. Bang go three staples out of my diet then.....

What's all this in aid of you ask? Removing the 10mm gap between my top and bottom teeth, and hopefully removing the pain of playing from my front right tooth. The pressure causes it to hurt and wobble after rehearsals. I am worried if I don't do anything about it I will do some permanent damage.

Things I am concerned about?

- Not being able to play a single note
- Losing the ability to play on the front row at Cambridge
- Reaction of work (from parents as well as kids)
- Being constantly asked for ID (Yes, adults have braces too)
- It not working and wasting two years and a bunch of money.

Will it be worth it in the end? Who knows? Better than a life of 'what if', though, I guess :)