A study of the effects of playing a wind instrument on the occlusion

By Mr. Ektor Grammatopoulos BDS, MFDS RCPSG

A thesis submitted to the faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of the University of Birmingham for the degree of Master of Philosophy

Department of Orthodontics The Dental School St. Chad’s Queensway Birmingham B4 6NN

December 2009

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Abstract Objectives To investigate the effects of playing a wind instrument on the occlusion. Subjects and method This was a cross-sectional observational study. One hundred and seventy professional musicians were selected from twenty-one classical orchestras and organisations. The subjects were subdivided according to the type of instrument mouthpiece and included thirty-two large cup-shaped mouthpiece brass players (group A.L), forty-two small cupshaped mouthpiece brass players (group A.S), thirty-seven single reed mouthpiece woodwind players (group B) and fifty-nine string and percussion instrument players (control group). Impressions were taken for each subject and various parameters were assessed from the study casts. Statistical analysis was undertaken for interval variables with one-way analysis of variance and for categorical variables with Chi-square tests. Results No statistically significant differences were found in overjet, overbite, crowding, Little’s Irregularity Index and prevalence of incisor classification between the wind instrument players and the control group, p>0.05. However, group A.L had a significantly higher prevalence of buccal crossbites than all the other groups, p