{"title":"Effect of inferior alveolar and lingual nerve block anesthesia on acoustic voice quality and speech effort: A within-subject study.","authors":"Cansu Sahin, Ferit Bayram, Göksu Yılmaz, Gülçin Bilgin Göçmen, Ahmet Konrot","doi":"10.1016/j.adaj.2025.08.021","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Patients frequently report difficulty in speaking after inferior alveolar nerve block anesthesia (IANBA), primarily because of numbness in the tongue and lips. However, the objective impact of IANBA on speech and voice quality (VQ) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of IANBA on acoustic voice quality and speech articulation using objective measurements and subjective self-assessments.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Thirty-four adult patients undergoing IANBA were enrolled in a prospective study. Voice recordings were obtained before and after anesthesia. Objective assessments included acoustic voice parameters, speech articulation metrics, and formant analysis. Subjective speech effort was measured with the Borg Category-Ratio 10 scale.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>No statistically significant changes were found in acoustic VQ indexes, formant values, or speech articulation parameters after IANBA. However, participants reported a significant increase in perceived speech effort after anesthesia (P < .001), as measured by the Borg scale.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Whereas IANBA does not appear to have an impact on objective measures of speech or VQ, it increases the perceived effort required to speak. These findings highlight the need for clinicians to address patient concerns about speech changes after local anesthesia, even when objective alterations are minimal.</p><p><strong>Practical implications: </strong>Although objective measures of voice and speech remain unaffected after IANBA, patients may perceive increased difficulty in articulation. Dentists and oral surgeons should acknowledge these perceptual effects, particularly when managing the care of people with speech-critical occupations or those prone to prolonged sensory disturbances such as paresthesia. The study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov before enrolling the first participant (NCT05710484).</p>","PeriodicalId":17197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Dental Association","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of the American Dental Association","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2025.08.021","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Patients frequently report difficulty in speaking after inferior alveolar nerve block anesthesia (IANBA), primarily because of numbness in the tongue and lips. However, the objective impact of IANBA on speech and voice quality (VQ) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of IANBA on acoustic voice quality and speech articulation using objective measurements and subjective self-assessments.
Methods: Thirty-four adult patients undergoing IANBA were enrolled in a prospective study. Voice recordings were obtained before and after anesthesia. Objective assessments included acoustic voice parameters, speech articulation metrics, and formant analysis. Subjective speech effort was measured with the Borg Category-Ratio 10 scale.
Results: No statistically significant changes were found in acoustic VQ indexes, formant values, or speech articulation parameters after IANBA. However, participants reported a significant increase in perceived speech effort after anesthesia (P < .001), as measured by the Borg scale.
Conclusions: Whereas IANBA does not appear to have an impact on objective measures of speech or VQ, it increases the perceived effort required to speak. These findings highlight the need for clinicians to address patient concerns about speech changes after local anesthesia, even when objective alterations are minimal.
Practical implications: Although objective measures of voice and speech remain unaffected after IANBA, patients may perceive increased difficulty in articulation. Dentists and oral surgeons should acknowledge these perceptual effects, particularly when managing the care of people with speech-critical occupations or those prone to prolonged sensory disturbances such as paresthesia. The study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov before enrolling the first participant (NCT05710484).
期刊介绍:
There is not a single source or solution to help dentists in their quest for lifelong learning, improving dental practice, and dental well-being. JADA+, along with The Journal of the American Dental Association, is striving to do just that, bringing together practical content covering dentistry topics and procedures to help dentists—both general dentists and specialists—provide better patient care and improve oral health and well-being. This is a work in progress; as we add more content, covering more topics of interest, it will continue to expand, becoming an ever-more essential source of oral health knowledge.