Go Retire Psychiatrist

About two weeks ago now when I started this fingerless whistling project, I said that wearing my partial denture didn’t really make a difference in the sound.

That was back when I couldn’t do much more than hiss. Now that I’m actually whistling, I practiced a little more while wearing my partial denture. I made a video comparing the sound with and without the denture. I’m not asking anybody to guess which is which. I just would like to know what you think.

I clearly label when I’m whistling with or without the partial denture. I’d like you to see the video first before you read any further.

Watch the video and come back later. Leave any comments below.

OK, my opinion is that the plastic retainer on my partial denture might act sort of like a resonator. It’s well known that dentures by themselves can cause people who wear them to sometimes whistle unintentionally because the dentures can sometimes alter air flow.

Just having a gap in my right upper row of teeth doesn’t necessarily make it that much harder to whistle. That’s because I press my tongue against the whole row of upper teeth in order to whistle anyway, so the little gap gets covered.

However, when I whistle, I intentionally alter air flow in my mouth and maybe the denture augments the whistle.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to start wearing the partial denture more just because it makes me whistle louder. It’s a little ironic, because the artificial tooth on the upper right doesn’t help me chew better.