Postnatal Palatoplasty, Implications For Normal Speech Articulation—A Preliminary Report

Abstract

During the last ten years patients born with cleft palates had their palates closed between three and eight months of age. The primary objective has been to have the clefts closed soon to minimize faulty habits of speech articulation and intraoral, oropharyngeal and laryngeal compensatory movements for speech. Over one hundred ninety patients with a variety of cleft types were treated. Of these patients, twenty-two were randomly selected for complete and comprehensive evaluation one to eight years after the corrective procedure. Oro-nasal balance of articulatory resonance was noted. There was not any need for secondary palatal procedures in any of the patients, and no deleterious effects on facial growth were found. Normal articulation development was observed in all the patients treated by this methodology as measured by a standardized test and developmental norms.