This study was carried out to examine the influence of mouthguards on speech intelligibility. Nine male rugby football players with normal personal occlusion and normal speech served as subjects. All players took the speech intelligibility test while wearing self-adapted mouthguards, custom-made mouthguards and without wearing mouthguards.
The ratio of correct judgments for speech intelligibility wearing self-adapted mouthguards was significantly lower than that of wearing custom-made ones or of not wearing one. When misjudged syllables were evaluated by using the manner of production for articulation, plosives had a tendency to be misjudged as flapped sounds or as other plosives while subjects were wearing self-adapted and custom-made mouthguards. When misjudged syllables were evaluated by the points of production for articulation, bilabials and velars had a tendency to be misjudged as alveolar sounds while subjects were wearing self-adapted and custom-made mouthguards, and alveolar sounds had a tendency to be misjudged as various sounds while subjects were wearing self-adapted ones.
The findings showed that speech intelligibility with custom-made mouthguards was better than with self-adapted ones. Speech intelligibility may be better with mouthguards with reduced palatal thickness than with the current ones because points of prodution for alveolars and velars approach the normal points.

Based on progress in home visits for rehabilitation and health guidance since 1979, the trend after the Nursing Care Insurance Law was enforced in 2000 was investigated. In home visits for rehabilitation, cooperation with many related organizations is required, and reorganization of the network built before the enforcement of the said Law is needed. The role of each home visiter for rehabilitation is being formed and cooperation with care managers is being strengthened. The tendency that the participation of the local government may decrease can't be denied. Connection with the hospital and the local government should be maintained, and a new community-based network needs to be built.
Rehabilitation aspects ; Community ; Management ; network ; Encounter due to convalescence