Retraining the articulation of patients with abnormal blade-palates and ankyloglossia

Abstract

Objective To explore articulation characteristic of abnormal blade-palate in patients with ankyloglossia and methods for improving it. Methods The articulation of 176 patients with ankyloglossia was observed. Thirty-five among them with dysarthria were recruited for research and training. Results Among the 176 subjects, 67 (32.4%) pronounced /zh/ incorrectly as /d/ when /zh/ was combined with /a/, /o/, /e/, /u/ or the compound vowels beginning with them. 65 (36.9%) pronounced it as /j/ when it was combined with /i/, 37 (21.0%) as /z/ and 29 (16.5%) lateralized it. Moreover, 35 (19.9%) and 86 (48.9%) pronounced /ch/ as a blade-alveolar /d/ and /t/ respectively when /ch/ was combined with /a/, /o/, /e/, /u/ or their compound vowels. When it was combined with /i/, 42 (23.9%) pronounced it as /c/, 53 (30.1%) replaced it with /q/ and 17 (9.7%) lateralized it. For /sh/, 77 (43.8%) pronounced it as /s/, 42 (23.9%) as /x/, 11 as /z/, 8 as /zh/ and 14 (8.0%) lateralized it. For /r/, 65 (36.9%) did not pronounced it, 32 (18.2%) pronounced it wrongly as /y/, 15 (8.5%) used /θ/ and 12 (6.8%) used /l/ when it was combined with /a/, /o/, /e/, /u/ or their compound vowels. After the speech training, the patients′ mistakes when pronouncing blade-palatal consonants decreased significantly from (34.69±11.31)% to (8.09±3.38)%. Conclusions Dysarthria occurs mainly when uttering /zh/, /ch/ or/sh/, and these are usually incorrectly pronounced as other sounds or lateralized. Speech training can partially restore normal speech without surgery. The training methods this research has established are significantly effective and worth of applying in clinical practice. Key words: Marginality; Ankyloglossia; Blade-palate; Articulation