Phonetic-acoustic and ultrasonographic characteristics of speech after lingual frenectomy: a case report

ABSTRACT This case report aimed to verify the effect of lingual frenectomy on the functional anatomical aspects of the tongue, the phonetic-acoustic characteristics, and the magnitude of tongue movement in the phonemes [ɾ] and [l] after the lingual frenectomy. The anatomical characteristics of the lingual frenum and the functional aspects of the tongue were evaluated using the Protocol for Evaluation of the Lingual Frenum. The phonetic-acoustic particularities of speech were assessed through formant analysis using PRAAT software, and the evaluation of the magnitude of tongue movements was conducted via ultrasonographic analysis with Articulate Assistant Advanced (AAA) software. After the assessments, the patient was referred for the lingual frenectomy and was reevaluated after 7 and 14 days of healing. It was observed through the functional anatomical evaluation that the patient showed modifications in the shape of the tongue tip, greater elevation of the tongue in the oral cavity, and improvement in the contact of the tongue tip with the labial commissures. The acoustic evaluation of speech and the ultrasonographic assessment of tongue movements indicated a longer emission time for the words, increased verticalization and anteriorization of the tongue during speech production, which were more evident for the phoneme [ɾ]. Thus, the instrumental evaluations contributed to the clinical assessment, facilitating the observation of the patient’s progress after the lingual frenectomy, identified in the analysis of the formants and highlighted through the ultrasonographic analysis of the tongue