THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT AND SPEECH THERAPY CORRECTION IN THE REHABILITATION OF CHILDREN WITH CLEFT LIP AND PALATE

Abstract

The aim of the study: substantiation, approval and clinical practice implementation of a complex system to influence overcoming speech disorders in children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) with simultaneous conduct orthodontic treatment. Materials and methods. An examination of 97 children aged 4.5 to 14 years with unilateral CLP at the stages of multidisciplinary complex rehabilitation was performed. In all the subjects, dentognathic deformations violations of kinetic and kinesthetic praxis’s, speech defects and speech breathing, presence of nasalization were found. 48.5% of patients (n=47) underwent orthodontic treatment and corrective training with a speech therapist for 6–9 months. Results. Corrective work consisted of two stages: preparatory and main. Based on the calculation per child before the start of treatment, an average of 11 sound-speech errors were found among all the subjects. As a result of the work carried out to overcome speech disorders, the variability of errors in sound pronunciation among patients who were simultaneously undergoing orthodontic treatment with removable orthodontic appliances (n=31) and underwent corrective speech therapy training decreased by 4.1 times, with fixed appliances (n=16) – by 2.5 times. Conclusions. Speech disorders in children with CLP are most effectively corrected with early competent interdisciplinary interaction of a speech therapist and an orthodontist using innovative and original technologies, and the variability of speech devices with the use of an individual differentiated approach, which significantly improves the formation of the phonetic side of speech.