ANGLE CLASS 1:  Dentists, especially orthodontists, use to classify the relation of upper and lower set of teeth / jaw .Regular situations with properly developed jaws and an even line of teeth is regarded as the normal bite, described as ANGLE - CLASS 1. See this picture . THIS SHOULD BE THE DESIRED DENTAL CLASS OF THE BRASS INSTRUMENTALIST .

ANGLE CLASS 3:  Kind of vice - versa  of CLASS 2. Reverse overjet. The lower set of teeth is placed in front of the upper one. Also, not very funny for airhorn artists. See picture below.

FRONTAL OPEN BITE:  A situation, making it impossible  to close frontal teeth for a sharp cutting bite. Upper and lower incisal teeth remain distant to eachother, while lateral teeth do contact. Can raise some problems in playing special horns. Picture.

DIASTHEMA:  A space between middle incisal teeth, could be a handicap when occuring too large. Sample picture shows situation.

Now,there are lots of diagnostic findings of combinations or alterations of what you have seen so far. Teeth and jaws, lips etc.can be recognized as individual as fingerprints. Beside this, we know about a huge amount of different diagnosisis like crowded teeth etc..
And , there is still another truth: One cannot neglect human body´s capability to adapt a lot to many alterations of ideal standards. So it may be possible to play the horn well in spite of limited physiological or anatomic deviations.
In fact, cases shown above can primarily make it difficult to place the mouthpiece in a comfort, useful and precise way. Accordingly, in the worst case it may  happen that the player injures soft tissues or teeth etc., i.e.,by using too much arm pressure while trying to force playing high register notes.

There are still some more major diseases not only musicians suffer from. Countless people lose their teeth in case of
 

PERIODONTITIS  what means a loss of tooth holding tissue namely mandibular and maxillar bone, gum and special tissue which connects root surface of tooth and bone. P. is primarily caused by a smear layer of microorganisms and their metabolic products initializing inflammation of gum by lack of maintenance. Secondary, an inflammation induced resoption of jaw bone around the roots of teeth will appear, worst, if assisted by functional disorders. If you detect bleedy dark red gum with a tendency to shrink ("teeth are becoming longer by the time") run - don' t walk - for a dental appointment. Did the P. develop to be one of the chronical type, you will find loosened teeth in most cases. Feel the amount of loosening by placing a fingertip on the cheekside of the crown of the concerning tooth while moving it by a little biting onto with a medium force. Ask your dentist if this movement is out of physiological, healty range already. Picture of severe destruction can be seen here. Again: Refusing treatment of periodontic diseases leads into complete loss of teeth, no way out. P.needs early detection and there is not really a direct relation to your age, except most severe cases happen to develop faster when people are 40 years and older.

 
 

BRUXISM AND DISEASES OF TMJ: CRANIO - MANDIBULAR DISORDER Very impressing a class of neuro-physiological misfunction-based diseases shows damages of teeth and / or the temporo-mandibular joint. Again, more or less movable teeth ( see above) may be found. Further symptoms associated with bruxism: - In some cases you hear and feel (!) crackings close to your ears while opening and closing mouth. These symptoms are coming along with excessive parafunctional biting and grinding of teeth during sleeping or when being under stress. - Pain in teeth, jaws, muscles of face, neck, shoulder, back etc., muscles hurt when getting pressed - Feeling tired and down etc. Causative: - Some cases use to have a certain psychological component, the patient works out his problems on his teeth and muscles - Habits like chewing pencils etc. - Believe it or not, there are certain hints in literature: Playing a wind instrument may be recognized as a special habit (parafunction) and may lead into bruxism - Crowded teeth, wrong placement of teeth, bad contacts between single or more of upper and lower teeth - Some say, orthodontic situation described under Angle Class 2 may induce bruxism Bruxism may cause diseases of the temporo-mandibular joint while it stresses related tissues. With a couple of more symptoms we put things together to CMD: cranio-mandibular disorder. Pic: Crunching teeth will cause loss of tooth material. Edges became sharp.

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