Speech Outcomes After Primary Palatoplasty and Presurgical Cleft Characteristics: Is There a Predictive Association?

Speech disorders related to cleft lip and palate exhibit different degrees of involvement and can occur even after primary palate repair. Hypernasality can be present as a result of velopharyngeal insufficiency, as well as nasal emission, weak pressure, articulatory errors and facial grimace, affecting speech intelligibility. Palatoplasty outcomes can be variable, and among the influencing factors are the surgical technique, the surgeon's experience, the postoperative care, and the patient/cleft characteristics.