Numerous studies have been reported how velopharyngeal dysfunction can cause resonance disorder on individual with cleft lip and palate or other craniofacial anomalies. Velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD) is the velopharyngeal valve failing to close completely during production of the oral sounds. There are three types of velopharyngeal dysfunction, which are the velopharyngeal insufficiency (structure), velopharyngeal incompetence (movement), and velopharyngeal mislearning (articulation). Normal resonance is control by the size and the shape of the pharyngeal, oral, and nasal cavities, which provides the quality and uniqueness of the voice from the vocal tract with airflow and sound. Airflow is converted into air pressure by articulators, which
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“Resonance disorders are almost always cause by a structural anomaly and, therefore, they almost always require medical or surgical intervention for correction, regardless of severity” (Kummer, 2014) Individual with velopharyngeal mislearning can have speech therapy but can be challenging to learn without acceptable oral air pressure. Most individuals that were born with VPD because of cleft lip and palate has a surgical repair within the first two years of life. The VPD would be fixed before the individual begins to produce phonemes and words before or at the age of two. Another type of treatment is prosthetic rehabilitation. With prosthetics, it “can be a permanent alternative for patients who have non other treatment option, but can also be a useful temporary solution” (Sell, Mars, & Worrell). This is recommended as the first option before surgery in toddlers with cleft lip and palate at the age of two. Although, this is debatable since in older patients “with VPD was associated with non-compliance, a significant failure rate, a persistent sense of deformity and the need for secondary surgical conversions” (Sell, Mars, & Worrell, 2006). A study shows that patients with hypernasality, audible nasal emission, and nasometry that used the prosthetics saw significant differences in their resonance and voice quality. Meanwhile, prosthetics did not change resonance and voice quality in patients with hyponasality. Therefore, these patients will have to have a surgical repair to solve the anatomical structure of the velopharyngeal
“Resonance disorders are almost always cause by a structural anomaly and, therefore, they almost always require medical or surgical intervention for correction, regardless of severity” (Kummer, 2014) Individual with velopharyngeal mislearning can have speech therapy but can be challenging to learn without acceptable oral air pressure. Most individuals that were born with VPD because of cleft lip and palate has a surgical repair within the first two years of life. The VPD would be fixed before the individual begins to produce phonemes and words before or at the age of two. Another type of treatment is prosthetic rehabilitation. With prosthetics, it “can be a permanent alternative for patients who have non other treatment option, but can also be a useful temporary solution” (Sell, Mars, & Worrell). This is recommended as the first option before surgery in toddlers with cleft lip and palate at the age of two. Although, this is debatable since in older patients “with VPD was associated with non-compliance, a significant failure rate, a persistent sense of deformity and the need for secondary surgical conversions” (Sell, Mars, & Worrell, 2006). A study shows that patients with hypernasality, audible nasal emission, and nasometry that used the prosthetics saw significant differences in their resonance and voice quality. Meanwhile, prosthetics did not change resonance and voice quality in patients with hyponasality. Therefore, these patients will have to have a surgical repair to solve the anatomical structure of the velopharyngeal