Mouthpieces meyer 7m mouthpiece bitemark?

[kill it with motown!]

Hi guys. so my setup is a Meyer 7M with rico royal 3.5 reeds. There is bitemarks on my mouthpiece and i don't know either if I should send it to get it fixed by a mouthpiece tech or use a thin, clear mouthpiece patch.

here are the photos of the bitemarks on my 7M. Should they get fixed? :

 

[kevgermany]

Patches will stop it getting worse. Fixing before using patches would be a good idea as it's quite bad and you're going to go through sooner or later. Check the price of a fix first, though

 

[Targa]

What material would a tech use?
Would anything such as Araldite be as good?
Then put a patch on.

 

[kevgermany]

Epoxy is potentially dangerous, shouldn't be used unless it's certified for food use.

 

[altissimo]

Epoxy is potentially dangerous, shouldn't be used unless it's certified for food use.

in what way? the resin and hardener may not be pleasant substances, but once mixed and cured they should form a stable inert compound - you'd have to ingest way more than the tiny amount used to fill a mouthpiece to cause any harm.

 

[Nick Wyver]

If you're going to cover it in a patch it's probably not relevant anyway.

 

[llamedos]

Might be an idea to consult a dentist or a dental technician - they use some pretty hard-wearing material that should suffice, especially if you are going to cover it with a patch. Just a thought, prompted by recent events of a dental nature.

Dave

 

[jonf]

Just in case, I'd be inclined to use Waterweld. It's an epoxy which is certified by the FDA for use in drinking water containers. Sets pretty hard, then you can cover with a patch.

 

[jbtsax]

Why would you want to get it fixed? You have a mouthpiece that is customized to the contours of your top teeth. Each time you play your teeth find their "groove" and that gives you excellent consistency with your embouchure and how much mouthpiece you take into your mouth. What's more no one else can play your mouthpiece because their teeth don't fit the grooves. It's a win win. BTW all my mouthpieces look worse than that after just a couple of months of playing on them.

In the store where I used to work a rental saxophone was returned that had just one deep groove in the center of the top of the mouthpiece. We nicknamed the kid who played that instrument, "Fang".

 

[kevgermany]

in what way? the resin and hardener may not be pleasant substances, but once mixed and cured they should form a stable inert compound - you'd have to ingest way more than the tiny amount used to fill a mouthpiece to cause any harm.

Epoxy can release Bisphenol A, which is not safe when ingested in more than miniscule amounts. Plenty you can Google on that, try Epoxy food safety for starters.

I'm not aware of any scientific study of the effects of using it to repair mouthpieces, but there seems to be a general census in the web discussions I've seen that it's best avoided.

There are special grades certified for food/water use which may be Ok, as long as the bits worn away by teeth don't get ingested. Waterweld, mentioned by Jon, is one that's readily available. I used it to repair the shank of a mouthpiece once, and it does a good job. However it's white and filled with something like chalk, so the repair will be unsightly and may be rough on the teeth. May be ok with a black patch, though.

 

[jonf]

Epoxy can release Bisphenol A, which is not safe when ingested in more than miniscule amounts. Plenty you can Google on that, try Epoxy food safety for starters.

I'm not aware of any scientific study of the effects of using it to repair mouthpieces, but there seems to be a general census in the web discussions I've seen that it's best avoided.

There are special grades certified for food/water use which may be Ok, as long as the bits worn away by teeth don't get ingested. Waterweld, mentioned by Jon, is one that's readily available. I used it to repair the shank of a mouthpiece once, and it does a good job. However it's white and filled with something like chalk, so the repair will be unsightly and may be rough on the teeth. May be ok with a black patch, though.

Agree with all that. Yes, Waterweld is white, so I would agree it should be covered with a thin patch. It is actually pretty smooth, but unsightly on a black mouthpiece.

The reason I would fix it is that those grooves look pretty deep. If the wear continues (and I accept that it might or might not, as the player jaw has found a natural position) it will eventually go right through.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Isn't there a thread on here about replacing a bite plate on a guardulululula mouthpiece using dental filler. I can't find it and it may well be somewhere else. I remember searching for the filler and found some for sale on amazon. It was a bit expensive and I didn't buy it.

Back in the day before I was aware of patches or even before they were available I put some sizeable holes in the bite plate of a treasured metal mouthpiece. I didn't realise how much I move on the mouthpiece till my teeth dropped in the slot and trapped a sliver of top lip. I resurected the piece by siliconing a patch slightly thinner than required over the bite plate and covering that with a thin clear patch. The thin clear ones are very tooth resistant.

 

[kill it with motown!]

Agree with all that. Yes, Waterweld is white, so I would agree it should be covered with a thin patch. It is actually pretty smooth, but unsightly on a black mouthpiece.

The reason I would fix it is that those grooves look pretty deep. If the wear continues (and I accept that it might or might not, as the player jaw has found a natural position) it will eventually go right through.

what can the bitemarks be filled in with?

 

[Merryfisher]

how are your teeth doing?

 

[ellinas]

A thin patch is the best way to go. Personally I use them on all my mouthpieces as thicker patches make me feel awkward.
Save your pocket and your mouthpiece 🙂

 

[kevgermany]

what can the bitemarks be filled in with?

As we said, a safe Epoxy or acrylic, dental use certified is probably Ok.