Speech evaluation during maxillary mini‐dental implant overdenture treatment: A prospective study

Large proportions of patients are edentulous and wear removable dentures leading to reduced functional comfort and less oral health‐related quality of life. Satisfaction with the oral situation after implantation depends on the outcome in eating comfort, speech comfort and aesthetics. Modification in form and location of the teeth may affect speech. The aim of this study is to determine speech, oromyofunctional behaviour, satisfaction with the treatment and the impact on quality of life of the horse‐shoe overdenture retained by mini‐dental implants (MDIs) in the maxilla. This prospective multicentre cohort study included 32 patients for treatment. 5 to 6 implants were placed, traumatically piercing the mucosa. Patients were evaluated three times during treatment (pre‐operatively with conventional prosthesis including full palatal coverage (CD), post‐operatively with provisionally relined CD and with horse‐shoe overdenture on MDI). The assessment included a phonetic evaluation, examination of oromyofunctional behaviour, evaluation of the impact on quality of life (OHIP‐14) and a rating of satisfaction with the treatment and speech on a visual analogue scale. Several speech sounds are found to be disturbed before treatment. In the next two stages of the treatment, the number of speech issues decreases. In the final stage, ten people show minor speech problems, especially with the /s/ sound. In this stage, seven people still present with oromyofunctional problems, especially whistling problems. In this last stage, people are very satisfied with the treatment (83%) and with speech (84%). The impact on quality of life is low (8.23/56).