My daughter is getting her fixed braces in a few weeks - probably both top & bottom. She's had removeable ones for almost a year but because she could take them out that didn't affect her playing too much (apart from when they rubbed her mouth & gave her ulcers!)

Does anyone know how it's likely to affect her sax playing? She plays alto & is about to join a swing band in September so doesn't want to let them down. Luckily she won't have an exam this term as she's just done grade 3 this time around (Distinction! )

How long did it take you to adjust?

Thanks!

It'll hurt like ###### playing for the first few hours, but just get her to play about 2 hours non-stop and then rest for a few days before she plays on. Keep it up and she'l form slight scar tissue within a few weeks. It largely goes away when a brace is removed too - it's not particularly different from learning the play in the first place, for anyone with pointy teeth

That will cause problems would advise to play shorter periods for a few days while she gets used to it, this should avoid completely killing mouth and building scar tissue. I had a fixed brace and never had scar tissue!

QUOTE (chelsea @ Aug 26 2004, 10:30 AM)

I had a fixed brace and never had scar tissue!

If you play the saxophone you have scar tissue!! You can probably feel it - very very narrow thin line in your mouth where your teeth go. Only a very few lucky people with very worn down teeth get away with no scar tissue

I think we'll keep the practice sessions short for a while - luckily there's no pressure for exams this term (except on violin & piano, that is!)

Thanks for the replies folks.