Objective: To investigate the effects of playing a wind instrument on the occlusion.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study. One hundred and seventy professional musicians, having met the inclusion criteria of the study, 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 (A-L), forty-two small cup-shaped mouthpiece brass players (A-s), thirty-seven single reed mouthpiece woodwind players (B) and fifty-nine string and percussion instrument players (control group-C). Impressions were taken for each subject and various parameters were assessed from the study casts. The difference in overjet, overbite, crowding and Little’s Irregularity Index between all groups was assessed using ANOVA. Chi-square tests were used to compare differences in the prevalence of incisor classification and crossbites amongst the groups.
Results: No statistically significant differences were found in overjet (p=0.75), overbite (p=0.55), crowding (upper arch p=0.31, lower arch p=0.10), Little’s Irregularity Index (upper arch p=0.99, lower arch p=0.16) and prevalence of incisor classification (p=0.15) between the wind instrument players and the control group. However, group A-L had a significantly higher prevalence of buccal crossbites (p=0.008) than all the other groups.
Conclusions: Playing a wind instrument does not significantly influence the position of the anterior teeth and is not a major aetiological factor in the development of malocclusion. However, playing a brass instrument with a large cup-shaped mouthpiece may predispose to buccal crossbite development.