When I was a young 24 year old I had to have all my teeth removed.
When I got my first dentures (free government issue) I got very depressed because I couldn’t play my custom made bansuri properly and so I sold it.
Some years later I paid for some new dentures
and I don’t know if it was just that
or the effluxion of time
but I found I could play flutes again.
Now almost 30 years on
my dentist tells me I should have posts implanted
in my jawbone to stabilise the lower denture.
Does anyone have experience with this?
Please PM if you feel too embarassed to answer publicly.
Would implant supported dentures interfere with flute playing detrimentally?
You know,
I do not want to become an all whistle kinda guy.
I had four Titanium implants put in my lower jaw two and a half years ago and the final dentures affixed about two years or so ago, give or take a few months. I had a problem adjusting for a while as the implants are not part of your body, so to speak, but pieces of steel replacing your own root structure. I still have an occasional problem keeping the flute in the “right” position on the lower chin area due to the lack of total awarenes there - Titanium has no feeling or sensativity. I’ve converted to mostly playing more up on the lower lip using it as the cushion. It still is not consistant but improving. BUT my eating habits have greatly improved as has my speech so - as I’m not relying on flute as my means of support but a hobby, I’m managing with little difficulty - just some annoyance, so to speak. You should be OK after a break in period. Plan on not playing at all for about one or two months after root extraction or implant surgery.
Thanks for your prompt response BillG.
I have noticed over the years (or as the years pass)
that the lower denture moves about a bit when I play
and result is I get a lot of jaw tension from
unconsciously trying to keep the denture in place, I suppose.
So the implants may offset this.
(And the 2-3 months rest may be a good time to have
the low C and C# keys put on my Seery blackwood.)
I’m a dentist. I’d recommend that you have the surgical portion of your treatment done by someone who does a lot of implant surgeries. That means that you will probably go to an oral surgeon rather than your general dentist.
This will be a long process, but your lower denture will be MUCH more stable when you are finished. If you have the money, I’d go for it! I practice in a low-income town where nobody gets implants.
There was some discussion about this a few months back on the wooden flute list. You could either try searching the archives there or posting to that list as there were a fair number of responses regarding dental work and flute playing.
I had an upper incisor replaced with an implant and then had an infection around the implant (“periimplantitis”) which needed another operation a while later. That all added up to a serious dent in the flute playing at the time though now everything seems ok.
So, it is not a bad idea, but be very alert for the signs of an infection - if it is caught earlier then it is a lot easier to deal with. And aparently front teeth are vulnerable due to there not being that much bone around them to start with. This can strike a while later than one thinks - in the immediate aftermath of the insertion, everything is being checked carefully - my problem came after that when the control checks were a lot further apart.
It does feel different to a normal tooth as BillG says, but you get used to it and it sure beats having a gap in your upper teeth or some kind of plate holding dentures.
