Development and evaluation of a new intraoral voice assist device called the voice retriever

Objective

Patients lose their voice after laryngectomy for laryngeal cancer or aspiration prevention surgery for severe dysphagia. To assist such patients, we developed and verified the utility of a novel vocalization method using a device termed the voice retriever (VR), in which the sound source is placed in the mouth.

Methods

We investigated the effectiveness of the VR in patients. The VR consists of a mouthpiece with a built-in speaker and a dedicated application that serves as the sound source. We compared the speech intelligibility and naturalness in normal participants using VR and an electrolarynx (EL) for the first time as well as the voice-related quality of life (V-RQOL) in patients with dysphonia before and after using the VR.

Results

The VR produced significantly higher 100-syllable test scores as well as fluency, amount of additional noise, intonation, intelligibility and overall long reading test ratings in the first-time VR and EL users. Furthermore, the VR use significantly improved the V-RQOL of participants with dysphonia.

Conclusion

Compared to EL, VR allows more effective speech improvement in participants without experience using an alternative vocalization method and improves the V-RQOL in patients with dysphonia.

Level of Evidence

Step 4.

Socioeconomic inequality and dental caries among Thai working age population

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and oral health among Thai adults.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is a cross-sectional analytical study using secondary data from the 7th Thailand National Oral Health Survey (2012). Age group 35–44 years old samples were used to represent the working age population. Oral health outcome was determined by untreated dental caries. SES was indicated by income, education and occupational groups. Demographic background, oral health-related behavior and access to dental service were adjusted for analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between independent variables and oral health outcome.

Findings

People with lower education showed a higher odds ratio for having untreated dental caries before and after controlling for related variables. Those living in the north and northeast, using additional cleaning tools and going to the public provider for dental service also showed better oral health.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of this study is that the cross-sectional study cannot indicate casual relationships. The national oral health survey was not designed to find relationships between factors. The access to data and measurement of SES was limited. The policy maker should emphasize on people with lower education which have a higher risk for dental caries to improve oral health in disadvantaged groups. Future research should include all related factors in the study including diet and knowledge about oral health. Moreover, oral health outcome is a long-term effect which accumulated through a lifetime. The social class might change over time and so do behaviors.

Originality/value

There is socioeconomic inequality in dental caries of Thai working age population.