Soft palate prosthetics: A compensatory treatment method for neurogenic velopharyngeal dysfunction

This literature review, entitled 'Soft Palate Prosthetics', examines the relevant aspects of soft palate prosthetics as a compensatory treatment method for neurogenic velopharyngeal insufficiency. Velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD) is described as a condition in which the velopharyngeal valve closes inconsistently and incompletely during articulation (cf. Kummer 2008, p. 178). The broad term VPD is used for all disorders that affect the valve's closure mechanism (cf. Kummer 2011, p. 152). Behavioural therapy approaches often yield only inadequate results, particularly in patients with bilateral soft palate paralysis following traumatic brain injury (cf. Schröter-Morasch & Ziegler 2005, p. 218). Consequently, the treatment of soft palate insufficiency using prostheses is one of the best-documented, most effective and also most complex interventions for dysarthria (cf. Vogel & Ziegler 2010, p. 154).