It's not as if they can't afford it ...

andy-hughes | 15:19 Thu 06th Jan 2011 | ChatterBank

16 Answers

What do Richard Briars, Margaret Thatcher, John Craven, David Jacobs, and Barry Gibb all have in common?

They have all had orthodontic work done that has noticably altered the way they sound when they speak.

Common to all is a muffled speech that sounds as if the speaker had a mouth full or marbles.

I noticed it with the Bee Gees Story on Radio Two - Johnnie Walker was interviewing Barry Gibb and i could hardly concetrate on what he was saying because of the awful whistles and hisses around his words.

The others are all the same - sounding toothy and unreal.

Why? It's not as if any of them could not afford a decent orthodontist!

Has anyone else noticed the change in the way these people sound?

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bednobs

john craven too, and lionel blair

Robinia

Yes, I've noticed. Rula Lenska sounds terrible now.

gingejbee

Wait 'til you lot are old and decrepit- you'll all sound like that.

whiskeryron

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTysXITBCmk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTysXITBCmk

andy-hughes

Question Author

gingejbee - this is not a matter of age.

All these people have paid an orthodontist to fix their teeth, and they all sound worse afterwards than they did before!

Loss of teeth with age is usually corrected with dentures - and most people will be at the mercy of either the NHS, or paying out for the best they can oafford.

My point is that every one of the individuals i have mentioned is in a financial position to afford the best orthodontist there is, so either they are cheapskaes, or they have been ripped off and no-one seems to have told them how they sound!

madmaggot

Perhaps they need to 'learn' to speak again?
Their speech patterns were formed around the mouth and teeth that they had; these are now changed but they are still forming their words in the same way as previously.
I expect their sounds will gradually adapt as they get used to their new mouth.

bednobs

i think the problem andy is that as you get older your gums shrink. No matter how much money you pay, dentures will never fit as well as having your own teeth

andy-hughes

Question Author

If I was able to afford the best orthodontist, as all these people are - then I would not accept that as a valid point.

Given that in all cases apart from Thatcher, these people use their voices in their careers, they need to sound as they have always sounded, and it cannot be beyond the remit of modern science to create dental work that allows that.

mollykins

I was told that Jonnie Walker sounds different because he had some sort of cancer in his throat etc.

andy-hughes

Question Author

No mollykins - he suffered from non-Hodgkins lymphoma - now thankfully successfully treated.

It's a blood cancer, and the only change in his voice is simple ageing - he is sixty-four now.

andy-hughes

Question Author

bedknobs - dentures? Any and all of them can afford crowns, implants, bridgework, what ever, and so dentures are certainly avoidable - plus, if that were the case, it would apply to anyone who wears dentures, and it patently doesn't - because otherwise the peculiar speech patterns they have would be evident in thousands of 'ordinary people'.