Alleviating speech and deglutition: Role of a prosthodontist in multidisciplinary management of velopharyngeal insufficiency.

ABSTRACT: Surgical resection of soft palate due to cancer affects the effective functioning of the velopharyngeal mechanism (speech and deglutition). With the loss of speech intelligibility, hyper resonance in voice and impaired function of swallowing (due to nasal regurgitation), there is a depreciation in the quality of life of such an individual. In a multidisciplinary setup, the role of a prosthodontist has been described to rehabilitate such patients by fabrication of speech aid prosthesis. The design and method of fabrication of the prosthesis are simple and easy to perform. The use of prosthesis, together with training (of speech) by a speech pathologist resulted in improvement in speech. Furthermore, an improvement in swallowing had been noted, resulting in an improved nutritional intake and

SUBMITTER: Nanda A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4762331 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature