Influence of Location of Palatal Bar on Discomfort and Subjective Difficulty in Function

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between subjective discomfort⁄difficulty in function after insertion of a palatal bar and location of the bar. Also, the effect of palatal depth was examined. Thirty-four healthy subjects were asked to rate 3 types of bar (anterior, middle, and posterior bar) for 5 items representing various aspects of discomfort and subjective difficulty in function immediately after the insertion of each bar appliance. The palatal depth in anterior, middle and posterior regions was measured for each subject; and the relationship between the rated scores and palatal depth was investigated. In addition, in 12 of the 34 subjects, these palatal bars were inserted; and the score of each item was determined immediately and 3 days after the insertion. The posterior bar showed the highest scores for all items. The anterior bar showed a higher score on the item related to speech, but a lower score on the item related to chewing than did the middle one. The subjects with their palate being deeper at the middle region and shallower at the posterior showed a significantly lower score on the item related to speech than those with a palate deeper at the middle and posterior regions. By 3 days after the insertion of the middle bar, the scores significantly decreased for most of items. Our data suggest that the depth of palate both at the middle and at the posterior region have an influence on the subjective difficulty in speech immediately after the insertion.