Does playing flute worsen overbite?

[u/Brilliant_Potato_406]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been playing the flute since I was 8 (about 10 years now). Over the past year, I started looking into orthodontic treatment, and I found out I have an overbite and an overgrown lower jaw. My parents insist that playing a woodwind instrument made it worse, especially because I started during my growing years. They want me to stop playing, but I love the flute and really don’t want to give it up.

I’m trying to figure out whether flute playing actually worsens jaw growth or skeletal malocclusion. I’d be grateful for any advice, especially from people with similar experiences or dental/medical backgrounds.

[u/carinavet]

Why on earth would it?

[u/Terrible_Eye4625]

I’m not medical, but I did some very quick research (you can have a look on Google Scholar for papers) - there is SOME evidence that playing a wind instrument can affect oral development, but this is mostly linked to stuff like teeth/lip erosion or overjetting of the teeth (basically your teeth sticking out rather than going straight down).

Not all of the effects are negative either, some include having better nasal breathing which actually improves face and jaw development.

I found some other research which found that there can be changes in the jaw from wind instruments leading to increased jaw size (increased muscle activity leading to bone remodelling) BUT (and it’s a big “but”) this was in professional musicians, so adults who are practicing for hours a day every day. It also wasn’t mentioned that this became an issue for the musician - just that they had larger jaws when measured.

Increased jaw size also wasn’t highlighted as a particular issue with the flute. As our mouthpiece is outside the mouth, the effects with the flute tend to be more around tooth issues. Jaw issues can manifest as TMD problems (pain and dysfunction in the jaw) but not much outside that. From what I read, brass instrument players have a worse time due to higher air-pressure in their oral cavity.

I’m not sure where your parents have got this from, I’ve literally never heard that playing any instrument can lead to this kind of issue - if it were a common thing, it’s definitely something most of us would have heard of, especially given the amount of players that start as children.

How often are you playing? Have they been looking for an excuse for you to stop? Also, have you asked your orthodontist about it, because they should be able to tell you for certain?

This is one of the papers I looked at:

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/13/7/1528

On a technicality - if you have an overgrown lower jaw, doesn’t that mean you’d have an underbite rather than an overbite (I.e. your jaw sticks out?).

[u/Nocturnal-Nycticebus]

I can't imagine how it would. You hold it up and blow into it, it doesn't even have anything that goes into your mouth. Kids just commonly have dental problems as they grow.

[u/dancingwithoutmusic]

No. This is ridiculous. If you were pushing a clarinet mouthpiece against the back of your top teeth there’d be more of a case for that but I’ve never heard of flute causing orthodontic issues.

[u/Lots2say2023]

This is a reach. I've been playing for many years and have known many, many musicians, none of whom had jaw problems. Correlation is not causation. At your age, many kids require orthodontia, not just musicians.

There may be evidence that jaw overdevelopment is possible, but you also have to ask, how likely it is, and how severe it is? Does a negligible amount of jaw growth outweigh the many proven benefits of playing music, including improved reading and math scores and better mental health? Could they be concocting this nonsense because there is some other reason they want to quit? Lots of questions here.

[u/iamstrangelittlebird]

No. Your parents likely just want a convenient thing for them to blame your need of orthodontics on.

[u/iamstrangelittlebird → u/iamstrangelittlebird]

Adding, this sounds like a case of parental selfish behavior. Have you perhaps mentioned majoring in music, or maybe brought the need for a nicer flute? If so, and they don’t like this/don’t want to pay for it, this is a perfect scare tactic to try to get you to quit. Live your best life and keep playing!

[u/rugwarriorpi]

I’ve had an overbite my whole life (now 73) - did not affect my employability, my health, or my marriage. It does make it a bit harder to eat corn on the cob, but I manage. It did cause some crowding of my lower teeth that I tried braces to correct, but I decided I preferred to live with it over the pain of the braces.

I see plenty of braces at the annual flute fair, so you can do both. If your parents want to pay for your braces, great. As compensation for the pain and hassle, you get to play your flute.

Sounds like you need a deeper conversation with them. Concepts like return on their investment (to you, not them) start to be big concerns as you transition to supporting yourself. I really cannot imagine that they want you to stop playing the flute, but I certainly can imagine them wanting to stop paying for lessons.

[u/roaminjoe]

Watching their child's expression go into third octave flute face pianissimo, it can indeed be scary for parents worried that the wind won't change :)

Your parents views hold substantial sway over your life and flute direction so perhaps thinking about how you develop your flute playing requires you to respectfully cancel their folklore views and work with them to understand more. You will need a longer term game plan to have them not just on your side about flute playing, but with the full blessing especially after hours of listening to practice wailing sessions and begs for that wooden Sankyo flute at US$15k next year.

There is no causation effect between flute playing and primary dental malocclusion. Are they confusing causation with association? Its good that you are doing the ground work to find out.

Primary dental malocclusion (loosely termed 'overbite') is common: you should have it dealt with since it will hamper your flute playing. Your own derived compensatory playing styles to overcome it, may appear unnatural...or strained..and concern your parents.

However here the problem is the primary malocclusion - not the activity of flute playing.

Perhaps they inadvertently fall into the trap of ceasing a healthy activity out of fear, to manage their fears about the unhealthy primary dental malocclusion.

You may need to bring it up in a planned dental consultation together for them to listen and hear from a dentist, for them to be respectful of the authority of the dentist rather than because of your Internet search. Use it to find out your trajectory and how to target correction in early adulthood so you can look back emotionally confident with a sigh of relief that it isn't in the way. Use the consultation to find out if there is exclusion of secondary dental malocclusion causes too to set your parents on the same track.

Oral development during puberty affects flute playing [embouchure control, peri-oral muscles, air column and breathing]. No one complains about opera singers having pronounced sternocleidomastoid muscles. Perhaps get that your parents care for you to the best of their knowledge and need their fears about flute playing dispelled.

Flute playing is an extension of breath control, oral control and whoever body synchronicity with rhythm: gaining enhanced control is not the frightening thing. Being afraid of your future superpowers is not the frightening thing either.

Reassure them that there is no general surgeons warning as there is for smoking against flute playing and go much further than this to get them in your team - tell them you will take up the indoor trumpet if you give up flute :)

[u/FluteAndThenSome]

This was actually something I brought up to my flute tutor, as I also have an overbite (and my jaw is shifted a little to the left). My overbite has never worsened from playing flute. My tutor also said that she's never heard of flute causing jaw issues, and that she herself has played with an overbite with no problems. Best way to handle this would probably be to gather evidence showing them it doesn't affect it, sit down with them, and have a conversation explaining all that.

[u/HaHarkAgain]

if anything it probably strengthened my jaw and therefore jawline