title: Effect of Prosthodontic Rehabilitation of Maxillary Defects on Hypernasality of Speech.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish a correlation between the effective internal diameter of the maxillary defect, the resonating frequency, and the effectiveness of the definitive obturator in reducing the percentage nasality.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-nine patients who underwent maxillectomy confined only to the hard palate (Aramany's class I and class II defect) and were wearing a definitive obturator for at least 3 months were included. The percentage nasality and resonating frequency were calculated with the help of Praat software. The patients were asked to read out a "Rainbow" passage and also to phonate and articulate vowels. Both parameters were assessed with and without the obturator prosthesis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Following obturator use, a mean change of 1.07 ± 0.83 kHz was observed in the resonating frequency (p < 0.001). The percentage change in resonating frequency was found to be 27.48 ± 4.99% following obturator use (p < 0.001). The effective internal diameter of the maxillary defect was calculated with the help of a Vernier calliper. The correlation between absolute and percentage values of resonating frequency and nasality before and after obturator use was found to be negative.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study found that efficacy of the obturator prosthesis in reducing nasality was greater in smaller defects than in large defects.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Studies and Research, Saraswati Dental College and Hospital, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Saraswati Dental College and Hospital, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ashutosh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: APS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Varun
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arora
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008437:Maxilla; D010158:Palatal Obturators; D021362:Palate, Hard; D011476:Prosthodontics; D013060:Speech
keywords: Hypernasality; maxillary obturator; speech intelligibility