Evaluation of speech before and after speech therapy associated with ultrasound biofeedback of tongue and bucomaxillofacial prosthesis in oral cavity cancer

ABSTRACT

The oral maxillofacial prostheses (PBMF) aim the oral rehabilitation of patients with mutilations resulting from oral cancer surgery. The oral rehabilitation was composed of speech therapy associated with ultrasound biofeedback of the tongue, which allows better precision in speech production. The present study aims to characterize the speech production of an individual with a history of multiple oncological surgeries with total glossectomy with the aid of an individualized acrylic device, designed based on the partnership between Dentistry and Speech Therapy and made by a prosthetic dentist, undergoing therapy and speech therapy with visual biofeedback by ultrasound. The individual is a 45-year-old man, retired teacher with a history of tongue squamous cell carcinoma with episodes of recurrence. The cancer treatment was performed by several surgeries associated with radiotherapy over seven years. This treatment resulted in total glossectomy and the presence of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the mandible. The sequel to radiotherapy also required multiple surgical approaches with loss of a large part of the jaw, causing severe impairment of swallowing and speech functions. During the multidisciplinary care provided by the Dentistry and Speech Therapy team at a university hospital. The creation of an individualized acrylic device was conceived, aiming to improve the speech intelligibility of the patient. This device was made by a prosthetic dentist and adjusted together with the Speech Therapy team. With the adapted acrylic device, the individual started speech therapy associated with biofeedback by means of tongue ultrasound with the aim of promoting the refinement of the speech production of the fricative headphones [s] and [∫]. When comparing the pre-therapy and post-therapy assessment (after the analysis of the speeches by judges) it was possible to identify an improvement in the Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC) from moderately-severe to slightly-moderate, as well as speech intelligibility from insufficient to regulate. The individualized device with speech therapy associated with biofeedback produced satisfactory speech results, considering the severity of the case and the high degree of mutilation of the patient.

Keywords:
Head and Neck Neoplasms; Glossectomy; Speech disorders; Ultrasonography; Rehabilitation