Abstract
This report summarizes our findings of the speech tests which we were able to perform before and after a frenectomy was performed on a four-year elevenmonth old child who was brought to this hospital with a speech disorder caused by ankyloglossia. Before treatment, because the articulation points of “t” followed by a vowel and “d” followed by a vowel were towards the dorsal of the tongue rather than at the tip, the pronunciation was closer to “k” followed by a vowel. Articulation of “s” followed by a vowel was frequently omitted during sentence repetition. Articulation of “r” followed by a vowel was often omitted during sentence repetition. During repetition of a word or syllable it became like “k”followed by a vowel because the articulation point moved to the dorsal of the tongue. It also became confused with “d” followed by a vowel.
After treatment, articulation of “s” followed by a vowel became clear. Although pronunciation of “t” followed by a vowel, “d” followed by a vowel and “r” followed by a vowel became somewhat clearer, the sounds were produced by placing the tip of the tongue between the maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth. This mistake in articulation is often seen in infants, and is considered part of the process whereby the child learns the correct articulation point after the tip of the tongue has been freed up by the frenectomy.
It is important to have a firm grasp of the child's articulation capacity, to perform the surgery of course, and to also provide appropriate guidance in language development before and after surgery.
