Speech intelligibility outcomes in maxillectomy patients rehabilitated with obturators prostheses: A prospective study

Maxillectomy results in disruption of palatal continuity and oral-nasal separation, leading to significant impairment of speech intelligibility and communication that requires effective rehabilitative intervention. Hence, this prospective study assessed the speech quality of 30 patients recovering from maxillectomy who were fitted with prostheses for the obturators at baseline, 3 and six months post- insertion. The scores of intelligibility reported by patients and blinded evaluation ratings of evaluators were statistically significant improvements over time. Scores for the average patient increased by 2.03 + 0.45 at initial assessment to 4.23 + 0.57 after 6 months. Evaluation scores increased from 11.87 ± 0.40 → 3.32 ± 0.48 → 4.10 ± 0.46. Thus, we show that obturators prosthetic therapy leads to significant improvements in speech quality in the first few months of follow-up.