Can Wind Musicians Get Veneers or Crowns? Answers in Bethlehem, PA

Published by Always About Smiles.

If you play clarinet, saxophone, trumpet or horn, your teeth are part of your instrument. A new veneer or crown can change how your lips, tongue and teeth work together when you play, and that can affect your tone, your range and your endurance. At Always About Smiles in Bethlehem, PA, we plan cosmetic and restorative work for wind musicians around the way they play. Dr. Thomas R. Lambert, DMD, MAGD, leads that planning, and he plays clarinet and saxophone with The Allentown Band, America's oldest civilian concert band.

Can wind musicians get veneers or crowns?

Yes, with careful planning, but it helps to know what each one changes first. Porcelain veneers cover the front surface of a tooth, and placing them means removing a small amount of enamel, so the treatment can't be reversed, according to the American Dental Association's guide to veneers.

A crown covers the whole tooth to restore its shape and size. Crowns are often used to protect a weak tooth, restore a broken one or strengthen a tooth with a large filling, as the ADA explains on its crowns page.

For a musician, those changes also touch your embouchure: the way your lips, mouth, tongue, teeth, jaws and facial muscles work with the air from your lungs and throat to produce tone, range, dynamics and endurance. That's where a permanent change and a musician's needs pull against each other. For musical problems, Dr. Lambert centers treatment on changes to the teeth or bite that are gradual and reversible, so removing enamel for a veneer is never the first step. That's why we plan these cases with your instrument in mind from the first visit.

How can a veneer or crown change the way you play?

A small change to the length, shape or position of a front tooth can shift your embouchure. The smallest change in your bite, a tooth's position or shape, or the way your tongue moves can have a real effect on your playing.

Two examples show how small that change can be. A trumpet player with a chipped front tooth can have it bonded so it looks great, and that repair can still change how he plays. A horn player may get beautiful veneers that add half a millimeter to the length of her teeth, and that half millimeter can take away her highest notes.

How do we plan dental work for brass and woodwind players?

We plan around your instrument from the start. Dr. Lambert asks musicians to bring their instruments to the office and show him how they play, so the treatment plan protects your playing.

From there, a few steps guide the plan:

1. Gradual, reversible changes first. Especially with front teeth, Dr. Lambert starts with changes to the teeth or bite that can be undone, before anything permanent like a veneer.
2. Trial temporary crowns. For larger dental work, he can make temporary trial crowns first, so you can get your normal playing embouchure back before anything final goes in.
3. Plaster study models. He encourages musicians to keep plaster models of their teeth and bite. They're a record of your mouth as it is today, and the best insurance against an unforeseen accident or dental problem down the road.

You can read more about this part of our practice on our dental treatment for wind musicians page.

Can you play a wind instrument with dentures?

Yes, with planning. Removable dentures can affect a wind player's range, sound quality or articulation. Dr. Lambert can make separate "musical performance" dentures designed for playing, in addition to your regular dentures for eating, so each set is made for its own job.

Why do Bethlehem musicians choose Dr. Lambert for veneers and crowns?

Dr. Lambert is a musician himself, so he understands the worry that comes with dental work that could change how you play. He plays with The Allentown Band, America's oldest civilian concert band, formed in 1828, which most recently performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the second time. He previously served as principal clarinet with the Easton Municipal Band and the Lehigh Valley Italian-American Band, and every year at homecoming he plays with the Penn State Alumni Marching Blue Band.

He brings that experience into the treatment room. Dr. Lambert has more than twenty-five years of experience treating embouchure, facial pain and the dental problems of wind musicians, and he works with musicians from beginners to professional symphony players. He also helps parents choose a school instrument for their child, since some brass and woodwind instruments put pressure on teeth or jaws that are out of alignment.

When Dr. Lambert talks about this part of his work, he keeps it simple: "It's all about helping other musicians."

When should a musician talk to a dentist about dental work?

The best time is before any change to your front teeth, whether that's a veneer, a crown, bonding on a chipped tooth or a new denture. Planning first gives Dr. Lambert time to watch you play and, for larger work, make trial crowns before anything final goes in.

If you've already chipped or cracked a tooth, call us soon. If you're in pain, say so when you call; we keep time open for patients who need to be seen the same day.

Bring your instrument and your questions. Call our Bethlehem dental office at (610) 868-9928 or request an appointment online.

Published by Always About Smiles (Dr. Thomas R. Lambert).