[Speech disturbance (dyslalia) and orthodontic abnormalities]

In orthodontic casuistics, utterance impairments of varying severity and forms are quite frequently encountered, which primarily urged us to embark upon a study of interrelationship between orthodontic findings and speech function. A group of 45 subjects was examined. Cases in whom impairments of articulation were not caused by CNS dysfunction, were primarily selected according to casuistics. Thirty-one patients, 24 males and 7 females, aged 7-25 years, were completely studied. Representatives of all basic orthodontic abnormalities and 4 eugnathic subjects with utterance impairments were included for comparison. Utterance impairments were found to correlate with the stage and severity of orthodontic abnormality.