The effects of glossectomy on intelligibility of speech and oral perceptual discrimination.

The effects on the intelligibility of speech and oral perceptual ability after glossectomy were studied in 20 patients. The intelligibility, rate of speech, and oral form discrimination ability were measured as they varied by the extent of surgical ablation. The results indicated that speech and oral discrimination ability are more severly impaired in patients who undergo more extensive surgical excision. The rate of speech of most of the patients was slower than normal. The results were interpreted to reflect the value of residual oral tissue. The amount of lingual and adjacent tissue to be excised may be regarded as a rough index of the effect such surgery will have on oral communication.