The Designation and Construction of Speech Appliances for Speech Problems due to Velopharyngeal Inadequacy

Abstract

Speech appliances are mainly used for the treatment of articulation disorders due to velopharyngeal inadequacy caused by cleft palate, and cerebro-vascular -accidents and congenital velopharyngeal inadequacy. The dental laboratory technique is useful for the construction of the appliances. However, few dental practitioners are qualified to make the appliance because of the high level of specialization required.
In this study, we report on four cases which were treated with the speech appliances in order to promote the understanding of the appliances among dental practitioners.
The types of the cases were 1) post surgical unilateral cleft lip and palate,2) submucouse cleft palate,3) post surgical cleft palate, and 4) congenital velopharygeal inadequacy. The former three cases were treated with PLP and the last one with Bulb-PLP. Treatment using speech appliances was proven to be effective for the resolution of the speech problems in all of our cases. It is considered that private dental practitioners like us can become involved in the treatment of speech problems due to velopharyngeal inadequacy by constructing speech appliances.