Speech therapy management of a patient with dolichocephalic type

Abstract

This article deals with the characteristics of one of the morphological types associated with craniofacial growth, the so-called long face syndrome (LFS). The aetiological factors that determine this type of growth and its most characteristic features are discussed. The analysis of the dolichocephalic type is based not only on the results of the latest research in the field of functional orthodontics, but also on the practical experience of the author. Two clinical cases of patients in whom the characteristics of the so-called “long face syndrome” were observed are therefore presented. This observation is confirmed both by the information from the speech therapy interview and by the data obtained from the myofunctional diagnosis, which included the assessment of primitive functions, the assessment of articulatory muscle tone and function, and the assessment of posture. On the basis of the diagnosis, the next steps in the speech and language therapy process, which were carried out prior to the actual orthodontic treatment, were indicated.