Is it for tightening braces, maybe a fixed expander (the sort of braces used on the top of a person's mouth to broaden their palette)?

If not, I suspect something to do with a musical instrument.

Updates! This story got a bunch of attention over the past few days, but it turns out the original article wasn't quite accurate. Check it out:

http://www.tenreasonswhy.com/weblog/archives/2007/12/unbelievably_st_1.html
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/12/30/1835210.shtml?tid=187