S. Umino et al., SPEECH-INTELLIGIBILITY FOLLOWING MAXILLECTOMY WITH AND WITHOUT A PROSTHESIS - AN ANALYSIS OF 54 CASES, Journal of oral rehabilitation, 25(2), 1998, pp. 153-158
To statistically evaluate the factors that influenced speech following
maxillectomy, the speech intelligibility (SI) in 54 patients was meas
ured with and without a prosthesis. The mean SI score without a prosth
esis in all patients was 35.7 +/- 22.7% and that with a prosthesis was
84.9 +/- 12.7%. The results of the postmaxillectomy SI statistical an
alysis revealed that an ore-nasal communication was one of the factors
that influenced SI without a prosthesis. The resection of the anterio
r portion of the soft palate was one of the factors that influenced SI
with a prosthesis, which suggested that for some of these patients we
should consider specific surgical treatment, aimed at the reconstruct
ion in the deep defect extending to the intratemporal fossa. A new cla
ssification of maxillary defects has been proposed which will help to
predict the grade of postmaxillectomy speech disorder following surger
y.