1 research outputs found
Impacts of Skeletal Anterior Open Bite Malocclusion on Speech
Introduction: Articulation problems are seen in 80% to 90% of dentofacial deformity (DFD) subjects compared with 5% of
the general population, impacting communication and quality of life, but the causal link is unclear. We hypothesize there are
both qualitative (perceptual) and quantitative (spectral) differences in properties of stop (/t/ or /k/), fricative (/s/ or /ʃ/), and
affricate (/tʃ/) consonant sounds and that severity of anterior open bite (AOB) jaw disharmonies correlates with degree of
speech abnormality. Methods: To test our hypotheses, surgical orthodontic records and audio recordings were collected
from DFD patients (n = 39 AOB, 62 controls). A speech pathologist evaluated subjects, and recordings were analyzed using
spectral moment analysis (SMA) to measure sound frequency distortions. Results: Perceptually, there is a higher prevalence
of auditory and visual speech distortions in AOB DFD patients when compared to controls. Quantitatively, a significant
(P < .01) increase in the centroid frequency (M1) was seen in the /k/, /t/, /tʃ/, and /s/ sounds of AOB subjects compared to
the controls. Using linear regression, correlations between AOB skeletal severity and spectral distortion were found for /k/
and /t/ sounds. Conclusions: A higher prevalence of qualitative distortions and significant quantitative spectral distortions
in consonant sounds were seen in AOB patients compared to controls. Additionally, severity of skeletal AOB is correlated
with degree of distortion for consonant sounds. These findings provide insight into how the surgical and/or orthodontic
treatment of AOB may impact speech