In order to recover the functions of oral cavity, protheses were prepared in two cases whose palates had been extirpated because of maxillary cancer.
The articulatory performances of these two cases were investi gated by means of speech articulation test, analysis of confusion matrix and polygraphic examination.
In this study it was demonstrated quantitatively that these speech aids acted very effectively. And, at the same time, following results were obtained;
1) In the cases who had defect in soft palate, some relationship was observed between the rate of nasal air leakage and the record of articulatory test.
2) The sounds which obtained higher intraoral pressure with speech aid, were pronounced more accurately than before.
3) The patterns of articulatory disorder and the mode of recovery in the case whose posterior margin of soft palate was defected differed from that of the case with uninvolved soft palate.
4) In the former case whose posterior part of soft palate was not involved phonated plosives and fricatives, the more anterior were the articulating points, the more was the nasal air leakage and the lower was the rate of articulatory test. These sounds were pronounced more accurately by use of the speech aid.
5) In the pronunciation of voiceless plosives in the latter case, whose posterior margin of soft palate was involved, the more posterior were the articulating points, the more was the nasal air leakage and the lower was the rate of the articulatory test. In voiced plosives, the more anterior were the articulating points, the less better was the articulation test. In this case, some sounds were not pronounced even with the speech aid.
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