Speech intelligibility, nasal resonance, and swallowing ability of maxillectomy patients with customized obturator: A non randomized controlled study

AIM: To compare speech intelligibility (SI), nasal resonance, and swallowing ability in maxillectomy patients with a customized obturator to the conventional obturator. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Non-randomized controlled study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight maxillectomy patients were recruited and assessment of SI, nasal resonance, and swallowing ability was done at three situations: without obturator, with conventional obturator, and with customized obturator. Recordings of unrehearsed conversation, counting from number 1–20 and four sets of Chapel Hill Multilingual Intelligibility Test in the Hindi language were used to assess SI and nasal resonance. SI was evaluated by untrained listeners and graded according to a 6-point scale. Nasal resonance was evaluated by speech pathologists on a 7-point scale of severity. Swallowing ability was evaluated by water drinking test. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: One-way ANOVA, Post hoc Bonferroni and Chi square test. RESULTS: SI and nasal resonance showed a statistically significant difference between any two groups (P < 0.001). Water drinking time was significantly different between without obturator and with customized obturator (P < 0.001), but the difference was not statistically significant between without obturator and with obturator (P < 0.004). CONCLUSION: SI, nasal resonance, and swallowing ability improved with customized obturator in comparison to the conventional obturator.