Sore mouth!!

Free Sheet Music by Artist : # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Hi all..
Been reading through the forum for a couple of months(good and bad times).
This is my first post though,,and its a bit of a problem one!!
I've been learning to play the flute for about 2 months now,,love it,,a little bit of a late learner aswell,grand old age of 39,,but having fun..

The problem is though,over the past few weeks,,the area behind my top front teeth has become really sore,like a burning feeling,,kind of teeth to roof of mouth area. If i stop playing for a couple of days,its goes away,,but soon as i start again, it comes back,,been to the dentist,,and nothing wrong there..so i'm a little bit stumped!!
The only clue i have, is that this soreness has only happened since i've been doing the highter notes,,E5 nd F5 upwards( i think thats what they are called,the notes at the top of the bar lines). Wondering if it is to do with the increase in air pressure for these notes??

Would anyone have had this problem or know what might be causing this,,as its starting to get to me a bit,,no fun having a permanent sore mouth..

Many thanks
Mark68

jose_luis
(1423 points)

I cannot see why the area behind your teeth could not be affected by your playing of higher octaves... (i.e or any octave)

Perhaps you are referring to the area between your front teeth and your upper lip?

Could it be you are having an allergic reaction to the flute metal? What type of flute are you playing?

<Added>

Sorry,

could not be affected = could be affected

mark68
(18 points)

Hi Jose Luis.

The soreness is behind the front top teeth going about 1/2 an inch to the roof of the mouth.
The flute is a new yahama 211,and never had any problems with reactions to metal before,,,,it only started when learning the upper octaves. It seems, (if i can describe it proberly),,bringing the jaw forward and making the hole in your lips smaller and blowing a bit harder,,seems to be putting pressure on that part of my mouth and making it sore,,almost as if it was flexing??? wondering if i could be tenseing the muscles there too much,,,also maybe the faster air flow going over that part??

I don't know,,but it certainly is sore,,must be doing something wrong i guess???

Mark68

Patrick
(1467 points)

it is possible that you are playing with a clenched embouchure, the lips should be pretty relaxed when you play so that you can focus the tone properly, also, don't play too long each day at the beginning, build your endurance gradually

good luck

jose_luis
(1423 points)

Hi!, I forgot to welcome you to the Forum and to Flute playing... be welcome!

I am no doctor but if your dentist could not find anything abnormal you could consult with a general medicine doctor. I do not think there are active muscles in the upper part of the mouth cavity (behind the teeth); the palate ceiling is fairly rigid. That is why I cannot see any relationship between soreness in that part of the mouth and embouchure problems.

The three causes of sore mouth I know are:

- mouth/foot disease, caused by contaminated cow milk (and its derivatives)or meat. This is somewhat improbable in UK, but not at all impossible.

- Fungus infections. Could it be your flute got contaminated (a second hand instrument, for example)? Beware that fungus infections can be recurrent and very difficult to eradicate. Also, Fungi can survive for extremely long periods of time and in completely dry conditions and will jump back into life as soon as the conditions are acceptable (humdity, basically)

- Something like Scurvy, related to low C Vitamin intake.

If you allow me a suggestion that is simple and without risks, try taking C Vitamin pills daily and see what happens after a week.

You can ask for the correct dose at the pharmacy or your doctor; anyway, I should not take more than 500 mg/day, no matter that someone could tell you 1000 mg is OK. But this is my personal position and is based in my own experience and some friends (bad) experiences...

If you do not like to take vitamin pills, you can probably do with a good glass of *freshly pressed* orange juice, taken each morning before breakfast. With a "good glass" I mean the juice from two or three medium oranges (or four if they are small). The result should be at least 250ml of juice. Beware that such a dose can have an impact on your bowel if you are not used to it, so be prepared to substitute with the C Vitamine pills if a problem arises.

It *must be* home freshly pressed juice, do not substitute it by *any* commercial carton juices or concentrates, they just do not work for this home recipe.

I hope you will receive more opinions from other helpful members of the Forum.

Also, I would like to comment that I do not think it may be related to age; I started flute learning much older that you and I did not had (this kind of) problems.

<Added>

What I think is that there may be a pre-existing mild injury condition in your mouth. It could be caused by any of the problems I listed (or other I do not know of). This mild injury could change into soreness because you may be tonguing hard and directly on that part. In normal conditions you could have got used to the injury condition, but it could get aggravated by the tonguing process to the point you notice (and suffer from)it.
Foot/mouth and fungi diseases can be diagnosed by your doctor without problems, so consulting with him/her could be much helpful.
Even if a flute is new, it could be contaminated because some instruments are lent for periods to try. When returned, they are cleaned and inspected, but still be considered "new". Fungi can be extremely resistant to standard cleaning.

Lera
(1390 points)

that can be a scratch in the roof of the mouth.Minor scratchies can go unnotesed for days. But they will hurt with increased pressure.

Kara
(2896 points)

I wonder if you went to a Dentist and have them take a look at it, if they could tell you what is going on.

atoriphile
(223 points)

I agree with Patrick, who said:

mark68
(18 points)

Many thanks for the replies and the welcome.
I had a lesson yesterday,first one for a couple of weeks due to work and other conmitments,but told my teacher about it,and could actually show her where it hurts,,she has no ideal why it's happening,,but said she will ask people she knows if they might have any ideal,,so will find out on that next week.
Plus also booked to see the dentist again in the new year,,so will have a better chat to them,and ask if they could have a better look...

If i find a reason for it, i post it,,might be of interest,incase it happens to anyone else...

Sore mouth!!

Other Stuff