A Newly Developed Orthodontic-Logopedic Screening Procedure for Myofunctional Dysfunctions-A Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine
• Speech and Language Pathology

Background:

• Myofunctional dysfunctions require interdisciplinary cooperation between orthodontics and speech therapy.
• Objective diagnosis and therapy progress monitoring are crucial for effective treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate an orthodontic-logopedic screening procedure for diagnosing myofunctional dysfunctions.
• To objectify the assessment of therapy needs and progress in patients with myofunctional disorders.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 32-question diagnostic questionnaire with a 0-50 point scoring system.
• Inclusion of 108 patients (ages 6-50) divided into groups based on screening scores.
• Randomization of patients needing therapy into subgroups with and without speech therapy for a 6-month follow-up.

Main Results:

• The screening procedure demonstrated applicability across diverse patients and providers.
• At baseline, no significant difference was found between the speech therapy and no speech therapy subgroups (p=0.157).
• After 6 months, the speech therapy group showed significant improvement (p=0.001) with a median score decrease from 25 to 11, compared to the no speech therapy group's decrease from 30 to 23.

Conclusions:

• The developed screening procedure effectively objectifies the diagnosis and therapy progress of myofunctional dysfunctions.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration between orthodontics and speech therapy, guided by objective screening, improves patient outcomes.
• The scoring system provides a quantifiable measure for determining speech therapy needs and evaluating treatment efficacy.