Prosthetic rehabilitation with use of palatal augmentation prosthesis in patients affected by functional limitations of the tongue

In this study six patients with oral carcinoma were subsequently subjected to surgery. Following surgical operation, patients highlight functional and psychosocial problems such as dysphagia, dysarthria and difficulties in everyday life. These issues are much greater as the tongue is affected by the tumor. The removal of part or all of the tongue, generally associated to teeth loss, is related to the severity of functional problems for the patient such as chewing, phoning and swallowing. To improve their clinical conditions, patients underwent prosthetic rehabilitation through the use of the Palatal Augmentation Prosthesis (PAP). The use of this device showed satisfactory results under all considered profiles. Subsequently, lingual pressure measurements were made both in static and dynamic phase before and after the use of the PAP. The use of this device experienced significant clinical improvements, evaluated also by two questionnaires: the first one, on general satisfaction with the PAP and specific satisfaction regarding comfort, mastication, phonetics, aesthetics, ease of cleaning and self-esteem and the second one, about the OHIP-14 items, referring to seven dimensions of impact; also phonetic tests for speech evaluation - with the help of a speech therapist - have been performed.