Have Braces, Will Play Musical Instruments By 999frights on Dec 14, 2007 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

My fourteen year old son plays first trumpet in his school band and was doing just great, until the orthodontist wired him for braces on his upper and lower teeth. My son didn't seem to mind the braces too much, but no sooner did he start playing the trumpet with his braces and he discovered that he couldn't play the high notes anymore. And he needs high notes to keep his spot as First Chair.

We talked to his Band Director and she recommended we try BRACEGUARD. It was easy to form the guards; I just followed the directions on their website. Within minutes of my son playing his trumpet while wearing his BRACEGUARD kit, his high notes retuned. Now he plays just like he did before he got braces, and he says it doesn't hurt.

The only bad thing about BRACEGUARD is that you have to be careful to not let the putties touch each other until you are making them into a guard. You can't even let your hand touch one color, and then touch the other color. You have to use a separate hand for each color and put them back in the exact little plastic case they came in. It helps to not re-wrap them in the plastic.

Other than that, this is a really easy product to use and I found the cost to be reasonable. My son used his first BRACEGUARD kit for 8 months - that averages out to $3.00 a month for pain-free playing. It is for people with braces who play brass or woodwind instruments.