Mirco
235 posts
Dec 30, 2014
9:41 AM
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I went to the dentist the other day, and he noticed some erosion in the enamel of my lower teeth (the center four on the bottom). It was a mystery to both of us, as the wear is inconsistent with typical reasons (like teeth grinding or cavity).
I've been thinking about this. I noticed that, when I tongue block, my tongue is extended over my bottom teeth and that sometimes my tongue is in contact with the bottom teeth. It seems that it is the same teeth showing the wear. Is it possible that saliva and acid from the tongue may be wearing the enamel through this constant contact? Have you heard of anything like this?
Secondly, no harmonica teacher ever discusses tongue blocking position in relation to teeth. We are generally more concerned with the tongue in relation to the harmonica. Is it okay that my tongue is in contact with my bottom teeth? Is your tongue free floating above your teeth? I've been looking through my harp books and videos and couldn't find much. The most I could find is from Adam, who says (in video .057) that he actually places the harmonica in between his teeth when tongue blocking. So, Adam, your tongue is never over the top of your teeth when tongue blocking?
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barbequebob
2803 posts
Dec 30, 2014
10:40 AM
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What it sounds like is that your mouth shape while tongue blocking (AKA embouchure) is most likely not opened up enough and that's often one of the biggest challenges for players starting out from puckering/lip pursing/lip block attempting to tongue block and happens much more often than they realize. During the TB, the harp should almost never be hitting or scraping your teeth so I'd suggest you re-examine your approach and embouchure and it sounds like you're still dealing with the mouth opening still in the pucker mode. I started out tongue blocking, then learned pucker and I use both, often times changing in mid-phrase and with the puckering, I had to learn to shrink the embouchure down some to adapt whereas you'd have to do that in reverse.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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nacoran
8184 posts
Dec 30, 2014
11:18 AM
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That's a new one on me. Are you eating lots of acidic foods before harping?
I just checked my tongue position and my tongue doesn't seem to be on my teeth when I tongue block.
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Mirco
236 posts
Dec 30, 2014
11:39 AM
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Thanks for your response, Bob. To be clear, my harmonica is not touching my teeth at all. I was wondering more about my tongue touching my teeth, and potentially the acidity of my tongue's saliva affecting the tooth.
I am not eating particularly acidic foods. I asked Dave Barrett about this, and he mentioned that our teeth are constantly "bathed in saliva", so that would indicate my tongue is not causing a problem.
Here's his full response:
"It is known that everyone has different acidity levels, both in our mouths and the oils in our skin (I've known some guitar players that have to change strings often because of this). Your teeth are bathed in saliva all the time, I'm not sure how playing the harmonica changes things. The bottom of the tongue does make contact with the lower teeth (just barely), but gently... I'm not sure how the soft tissue of the tongue can effect the hard teeth, but maybe it's more about the protective enamel? Experiment with opening your mouth a tad more and tilting the face of the harmonica downwards a tad more... this will present the harmonica to the tongue more, apposed to presenting your tongue to the harmonica, causing more of the tongue to make contact with your lower teeth."
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Mirco
237 posts
Dec 30, 2014
7:15 PM
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The strange part is that the tooth wear was inconsistent and would indicate nothing to do with diet.
I'm not sure what this is, but I guess I can rule out that it is harmonica or tongue block related.
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Dragonbreath
35 posts
Dec 31, 2014
3:22 AM
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Another possibility could be that your bottom teeth are getting too dry. When you pucker (maybe even when TB'ing) you tilt your harp towards your lower lip or the side of mouth, and your teeth can get in the airflow and this might dry your teeth out.
Dry teeth are known to be less resistant to enamel wear, as saliva usually protects our teeth.
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