A comprehensive assessment of the treatment outcome in cleft lip and palate involves evaluating speech and the impact of speech-correcting surgical interventions. This retrospective case-control study compared the speech outcomes of 37 boys and 19 girls with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) who underwent one-stage cleft repair at an average age of 8.1 months and alveolar bone grafting either before or after 6 years of age, with a non-cleft control group at an average age of 10 years. Two experienced speech and language pathologists conducted perceptual speech assessments using a specialized test of 27 sentences designed for Polish-speaking cleft patients. The results revealed that 5.3% had severe hypernasality, 1.8% had severely impaired speech intelligibility, 10.7% exhibited retracted compensatory articulations, and 7.1% displayed facial grimacing. Mild hyponasality was observed in 12.3% of patients, while 16.1% exhibited voice abnormalities. Additionally, 12.5% of patients required orofacial fistula repairs, 3.6% underwent pharyngoplasties, and 28.6% received ear ventilation tube insertions. The study indicates that speech abnormalities in UCLP patients were relatively infrequent and not highly severe, suggesting that the primary UCLP repair method presented effectively reduced the need for further surgical interventions, leading to positive speech outcomes.

Department of Maxillo Facial Surgery Pediatric Surgery Clinic Institute of Mother and Child Kasprzaka Str 17a 01 211 Warsaw Poland

Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics University of Bern Freiburgstrasse 7 3010 Bern Switzerland

Department of Orthodontics Institute of Dentistry and Oral Sciences Palacky University Olomouc Palackého 12 779 00 Olomouc Czech Republic

Department of Orthodontics Jagiellonian University in Krakow Montelupich 4 31 155 Krakow Poland

Speech and Language Pathology Clinic Institute of Mother and Child Kasprzaka 17a 01 211 Warsaw Poland

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