Speech with maxillary implant prostheses: ratings of articulation

Speech is often perturbed after placement of maxillary implant-retained prostheses. We tested the hypothesis that the rate of speech errors varies with prosthetic design. Thirty edentulous subjects with mandibular implant prostheses entered two within-subject crossover trials. Subjects wore maxillary fixed prostheses and removable long-bar overdentures (Trial 1), or overdentures with and without palates (Trial 2). Test words from a French language speech battery were recorded after each prosthesis had been worn for two months. The percentages of stops, fricatives, and vowels correctly perceived by lay judges were calculated. Subjects produced a significantly higher percentage of sounds correctly with overdentures than with fixed prostheses. Between-treatment differences were significant for stops and fricatives (p < 0.01), but not for vowels. There were no significant differences in error rates between the two overdentures. In conclusion, maxillary implant overdentures with and without palates enable patients to produce more intelligible speech than fixed prostheses.