Articulatory Evaluation Of Lingua Palatal Sounds In Denture Wearers – Pre And Post Comparison

Abstract

Speech is an autonomous and unconscious activity. Its production involves a combination of phonation and articulation. Thus the aim of the study is to evaluate and compare linguo palatal sounds /ţ/, /d/, /tᶴ^/and /ᶴ^/ in three different groups like Group A individual with conventional complete dentures without palatine rugae, group B individual with conventional complete dentures with palatine rugae and Group C normal dentition individuals. A total of 20 individuals completely edentulous were selected in the age range of 50 to 65 years for the study. Control group consisted of10 individuals, with complete natural dentition in the same age group.4 Linguo-palatal phonemes in Kannada like /ţ/, /d/, /tᶴ^/and /ᶴ^/ were considered for the study and the target phonemes were identified in the initial and medial position of words of Kannada Articulation Test. The speech samples with target phonemes were analysed perceptually and acoustically by SLP software. Spectral parameters and temporal parameters were better in with palatal rugae denture than compared to without palatal rugae. Perceptual analysis reports showed many substitution errors with a conventional denture. To summarize, with customized rugae denture speech was clearer. To conclude, speech characteristic will be better after denture insertion compared to the edentulous stage.