[Dyslalias associated to maloclussion in schoolchildren]

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Dentistry
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Developmental Pediatrics

Background:

• Dyslalias, or speech sound disorders, are often evaluated using the Test for Evaluating Phonological Simplification Processes (TEPROSIF).
• Malocclusion, a condition of irregular teeth alignment, may impact speech development in children.
• Early identification of factors contributing to dyslalias is crucial for timely intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between dyslalias and malocclusion in children aged 4 to 6 years.
• To utilize the TEPROSIF tool to assess phonological simplification processes in relation to dental status.
• To determine specific types of malocclusion that correlate with different speech sound errors.

Main Methods:

• Standardized the TEPROSIF tool with a kappa of 0.9 for reliability.
• Applied the TEPROSIF to 116 children aged 4-6 years.
• Assessed bite type, overbite, occlusion, and terminal plane, relating these to observed dyslalias using chi-squared tests.

Main Results:

• Phoneme substitution was the most frequent speech alteration observed.
• Significant correlations were found between phoneme omission and terminal plane, Baume type I arch, and absence of teeth (p < 0.01).
• Phoneme substitution also showed significant associations with terminal plane, bite type, and absence of teeth (p < 0.03).

Conclusions:

• Phoneme substitution is the predominant phonological alteration in children aged 4-6.
• Omission and distortion of phonemes are also common speech sound errors in this age group.
• Specific malocclusion characteristics are significantly associated with phonological simplification processes, suggesting a link between oral structure and speech.