Cephalometric and intraoral variables as they relate to articulation improvement with training.

C linical investigators in orthodontics and in speech pathology have conducted research intended to identify relationships between orthodontic and speech variables.12, ID For example, measurements of open-bite have been correlated with measurements of articulation. Also, such variables as lingual posture have been studied as they relate to both orthodontic and articulatory measures. This search for relationships represents an early step in the solution of several abiding clinical problems. Broadly, investigators wish to know whether speech behaviors or their modification influence occlusion, whether occlusion or its treatment influences articulation, and whether third variables or their manipulation influence occlusion, articulation, or both. Clinical experience and case studies, such as those reported by (iarliner, can at best generate hypotheses. Answers to the questions mentioned above will be attained only through research programs. Some evidence suggests that speakers adapt their articulatory movements to their dcntition.l”-lGs I8 H owever, no one has determined whether children’s responses to articulation training are related to orthodontic variables. Past correlational research indicates that many children with malocclusion have normal articulation but that there is a trend for children with occlusion problems or with teeth missing to have more articulation errors than do children with normal occlusion.l, I1 The correlational research that has been carried out has been addressed to the relationship between current articulation status and current