Articulation Performance of Patients Wearing Obturators with Different Buccal Extension Designs

OBJECTIVES The primary goal of prosthetic obturation is closure of the maxillectomy defect and separation of the oral cavity from the sinonasal cavities by use of different bulb designs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the articulation performance of obturator patients with three different buccal extension designs. METHODS Five patients with palatal defects of comparable sizes at ages ranging from 42 to 74 were evaluated. Starting at postoperative 4 months, speech intelligibility (SI) was assessed without a prosthetic obturator and with an obturator of buccal extensions 15 mm (high), 10 mm (medium) and 5 mm (low), respectively. Assessments were performed at four week intervals for adaptation. The articulation performance of patients with different buccal extension designs were evaluated on speech intelligibility. The data tested using Friedman test. RESULTS The mean SI score without an obturator was 45.04%+/-5.86%. SI was found to be significantly increased with obturators of any buccal extensions with the mean values 90.50%, %94.24% and 91.20% for high, medium, and low buccal extensions respectively. When the SI score was compared between three buccal extension types medium was found to be significantly higher compared to others (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS Obturators improve speech intelligibility irrespective of their buccal extension levels. Nevertheless, medium size buccal extension enables the optimum sealing for better articulation.