Aerodynamic assessment of prosthetic speech aids.

The primary function of a speech aid prosthesis is to provide adequate palatopharyngeal function by preventing nasal emission and hypernasality during oral speech production and permitting sufficient nasal air escape during nasal consonant production. The adequacy of speech aids is often judged subjectively by speech-language pathologists and prosthodontists. However, when oral and laryngeal function are also affected, additional information may be needed for accurate assessment of palatopharyngeal function and optimal prosthetic management. In these instances, aerodynamic measurements can provide information about palatopharyngeal function and guide fabrication and modification of speech aid prostheses to provide adequate palatopharyngeal function for speech.