Speech in different oral prosthetic rehabilitation modalities for elderly individuals

Background: speech production in different modalities of oral prosthetic rehabilitation. Aim: to study the speech production of subjects submitted to different oral rehabilitation modalities. Method: 36 elderly individuals (average = 68 years) of both gender were evaluated. Participants were divided in three groups: 13 subjects with natural teeth (A); 13 edentate using maxillary and mandibular conventional dentures (B); and 10 edentate using maxillary conventional dentures and mandibular implant-supported prosthesis (C). Prosthesis stability was evaluated by a dentist and speech samples were analyzed by five speech-language pathologists. In order to determine the frequency of speech sound alterations, the Percentage of Correct Consonants (PCC) was used. Results: few individuals presented speech alterations. Group C presented a higher occurrence of speech alterations (23.08%). Locked articulation was present in all groups; the reduction in lip movement was observed for groups A and B; exaggerated articulation and absence of saliva control was observed for group C. A smaller Percentage of Correct Consonants value was observed for the linguodental phonemes, in groups B and C, followed by the alveolar phonemes. Group A presented the majority of individuals with no speech alterations. On the other hand, for groups B and C, lisp and tongue projection was frequently observed. No statistical difference was found between the groups. Most of the individuals in group B presented unsatisfactory prosthesis stability, but no association was identified between speech alterations and prosthesis stability. Conclusion: despite the small sample, the results of the study suggest that individuals using dentures present alterations in linguodental and alveolar phonemes. The type of prosthesis and its stability do not seem to interfere in speech production.