Mouthpiece for teeth issues

[Kenneth]

I have a bottom front tooth that is protruding and causing havoc with my playing, especially in the lower register. One dentist suggested invisalign to correct the issue. Another wanted to put braces on all my teeth (I went down that road when I was in JH). I'm currently playing on a Curry 1Z. I've always liked Curry's design but I'm open to anything. I know there are others out there who have had this issue. If there's a mouthpiece out there that works well with this issue, I need to know before I lay down a bundle of cash on a dental procedure that my insurance won't cover. By the way, I'm 64 years old, a retired band director, and I've been playing consistently since I got out of college.

[Andy Cooper]

You need to find a rim that does not hit on the high point of your tooth. I have a similar problem. My solution, which works well, is the old Neill Sanders 17S and 17M rim. It's out of production but the Dave Hickman Signature rim M and S models are similar. (Signature rim not the TBR and for sure not the Big Boy). The Sanders and the Hickman have the high point of the rim closer to the outside of the mouthpiece (inverted lay).
They are a bit pricey so you might try something less expensive first.

Try the Curry 1.25 Z - not because it's a little smaller diameter but because it has a totally different rim shape and not like the Bach 1.25. The high point of the rim will line up with a different part of your tooth. Buy one with a return option - you might get lucky.

An after thought - if you don't mind trashing a $20 mouthpiece, you could order a Mad-Max 1 1/2C plastic mouthpiece and have at it with some small files and ultra fine wet/dry sandpaper. Slowly start filing out the spot that binds on your lower tooth. I've had reasonable results re-making Kelly rims.

Do some searching- one of our TH posters has done some work like that - I think with epoxy rims. If you can make a plastic rim work, you could then tackle a good brass mouthpiece - get it about right and send it to "lipshurt" or Ken Titmus to tidy up and plate.