Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate quantitatively discomfortable effect of fixed multibracket appliance on performing wind instruments (brass) in orthodontic patients and to evaluate the efficacy of a handmade protector to reduce the discomfort.
Methods: The selected subjects were 11 patients who performed brass instruments both before and while they wore the fixed appliance. Visual analogue scale (VAS) was taken from the subjects for evaluating questionnaire contained the following four questions:
1. difficulty in performing high tone range due to the fixed appliance,
2. difficulty in performing low tone range,
3. pain of lips, and
4. pain of teeth while performing due to the fixed appliance.
The handmade protector made by thermoplastic resin materials was set on the upper anterior teeth using three subjects. The handmade protector had clearance on upper anterior teeth. After then, VAS was also taken from three subjects for evaluating the effectiveness efficacy of the protector using same questionnaire.
Results: The following results were obtained:
1. The difficulty in performing high tone range was significantly higher than that in performing low tone range (p<0.01).
2. The pain of lips was significantly stronger than the pain of teeth (p<0.01).
3. The handmade protector solved the difficulty in performing high tone range and reduced the pain of lips in all three subjects.
Conclusions: The results suggest that protectors improve discomfortable effect of fixed multibracket appliance on performing brass instruments.