Abstract
Abstract: A 78-year-old woman with unoperated cleft palate and open nasality is presented. Placement of a new denture equipped with pharyngeal section and pharyngeal bulb showed remarkable improvement of velopharyngeal function and in the articulation test as follows:
1) Examination of oral air flow volume, time flow, and peak flow rate during blowing with a new denture showed increases of 50%, 25%, and 63% respectively compared to those data with/without old denture.
2) Fiberscopic examination showed complete velopharyngeal closure during /K/ phonation with a new denture which did not with old denture.
3) Articulation test with a new d enture showed remarkable improvement of 58%, which revealed very close to acceptable level, from 29% with old denture.
The authors recommend the choice of prosthetic improvement equipped with a speech appliance for the patient with unoperated cleft palate, when she/he is elderly.
