ABSTRACT
Background: The hard palate is important for feeding, mastication and speech. Mammals with a defective hardpalate may die shortly after birth due to the inability to suckle. The interaction between tongue and hard palateis essential in the formation of certain speech sounds. In high arched palate, a proper palate-lingual contact isnot achieved, resulting in defective articulation. Surgically, the anatomy of hard palate can be modified by usingPalatal Height Index measurement, which could lead to the improvisation of palato-lingual contact andarticulation. This study aims to determine the Palatal height index.Results: After taking detail history of the subjects, the qualitative and quantitative parameters were measuredand then compared between the normal group (n=60) and high arched palate group (n=60) to know the statisticalsignificance between the two groups. The qualitative parameters measured in this study were shape of hardpalate, permanent dentition, microdontia, spacing of teeth, missing of teeth, eruption time of teeth, crowding ofteeth, malalignment, and malocclusion. The quantitative parameters measured in this study were average linearwidth, average height and palatal height index. Impressions of hard palate were taken through the prepared cast.From the prepared cast average linear width, average height and palatine height index were measured. The mean± SD value of average linear width measured between two molars was found to be 3.82 ± 0.32 in normal and 3.46± 0.17 in high arched palate subjects. The mean ± SD value of average height measured between two molars was1.58 ± 0.26 in normal and 2.06 ± 0.2 in high arched palate subjects. The mean ± SD value of palatine height indexmeasured between two molars was 41.98 ± 9.82 in normal and 59.69 ± 5.81 in high arched palate subjects.Conclusion: Palatal height index was high in the study group when compared to the normal group of similar agedcandidates and the results were found to be statistically significant. Crowding of incisors and canines,malocclusion, malalignment, absence of 2nd premolar, spacing of teeth were observed in high arched palategroup
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of palatal height on Korean vowels and speech intelligibility in Korean adults and to produce baseline data for future prosthodontic treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty one healthy Korean men and women who had no problem in pronunciation, hearing, and communication and had no history of airway disease participated in this study. Subjects were classified into H, M, and L groups after clinical determination of palatal height with study casts. Seven Korean vowels were used as sample vowels and subjects' clear speech sounds were recorded using Multispeech software program on computer. The F1 and the F2 of 3 groupswere produced and they were compared. In addition, the vowel working spaces of 3 groups by /a/, /i/, and /u/ corner vowels were obtained and their areas were compared. Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whiteny U test were used as statistical methods and P < .05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in formant frequencies among 3 groups except for the F2 formant frequency between H and L group (P = .003). In the analysis of vowel working space areas of 3 groups, the vowel working spaces of 3 groups were similar in shape and no significant differences of their areas were found. CONCLUSION: The palatal height did not affect vowel frequencies in most of the vowels and speech intelligibility. The dynamics of tongue activity seems to compensate the morphological difference.