There's a guy in town named Kerry Kluner who is without a doubt one of the best lead players I have ever gigged with. Some years ago he took a softball into the chops and damn near seperated his upper lip from his face. He has a scar that goes right thru the middle of his upper lip and all the way across one side. According to Kerry he has absolutely no feeling in his upper lip anymore yet he managed to teach himself how to play again. In his opinion, 90% of playing the horn was knowing how to use your air stream. I don't advocate catching line drives in your teeth, but holy crap can this dude crush a note.