Abstract
A current study was undertaken to assess pronunciation of plosives in6 adult patients who had undergone a partial resection of a maxilla and had used a maxillary prosthesis for more than seven months. The test sounds for evaluation were/b, t, d, k, g, and r/, and their acoustic characteristics were compared by two methods: a speech intelligibility test (SIT), and a spectrographic analysis by Digital Sonagraph (DSG). Each patient's spectrographic pattern (sonagram) was analyzed for clearness of the oral silent period prior to the plosive, the spike fill, and the transition to the succeeding vowel. Aberrations in the pattern were graded on the basis ofnumeric scale, with a three representing the least aberrant pattern, and a zero, the most aberrant pattern. The time factor for each consonant was also assessed by DSG by means of an expanded time-wave display.The results of this evaluation revealed the following:1. SIT made it possible to evaluate an improvement in speech, if the defect wascomparatively small. However, it was difficult to estimate changes in sound when the defect involved the soft palate.2. In cases of a major defect, DSG evaluation could determine an improvement inarticulation that was even perceived by the patients.3. Based on the duration of the plosive consonant, it seems possible to assess changes in articulatory movements and the patient's adaptation to the prosthesis.
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