PURPOSE:
to characterize and compare maximum phonation times in elderly women that wear upper dental prosthesis and elderly women with upper natural teeth.
METHODS:
31 elderly women were divided into an experimental group - 19 ladies who wore upper dental prosthesis, average age of 71.21 years and a control group - 12 women who did not wear dental prosthesis, mean age of 69.83 years. Maximum phonation time values of fricatives /s/ and /z/ and vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ were analyzed through the parametric Paired Student's t-test.
RESULTS:
the averages for vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ and fricatives /s/ and /z/ were within the expected ranges in the control group (14.86s; 15.40s; 15.85s; 14.09s and 14.30s, respectively) and below the expected range in the experimental group (10.84s; 10.53s; 10.74s; 10.25s and 10.95s respectively). There was no statistical difference between the elderly women of the two groups for maximum phonation time of the vowels; which was not the case for the fricatives.
CONCLUSION:
the group of elderly women with natural teeth reached the longest phonation time for vowels and fricatives that is minimally expected from female adults while the group of elderly women with full upper dental prosthesis had lower values than expected. Contrary to expectations, there was no difference in maximum phonation time values of fricatives when the groups were compared, but the maximum phonation time of all analyzed vowels was lower in the group that wears prosthesis. The results show the influence of wearing dental prosthesis on the results of maximum phonation time of elderly women.
Phonation; Elderly; Dental Prosthesis; Voice
