4. During the 1700s and 1800s, surgeons would routinely remove part of the human tongue in an attempt to prevent speech disorders resulting in the disabling of the patient’s ability to speak.
A glossectomy is the surgical removal of the tongue, often performed today in order to prevent the development of oral cancer in extreme circumstances; consequently, the partial removal of the tongue is known as a hemiglossectomy. Hemiglossectomies became popular medical procedures during the 18th and 19th centuries as a cure for stuttering and other associated speech disorders viewed negatively and unsympathetically by society at large. Of particular note, German surgeon Johann Frederick Dieffenbach (1795-1847) developed and popularized a procedure that proliferated throughout Europe.
Dieffenbach’s technique involved the removal of a triangular portion at the root of the tongue, with the intent of dividing the lingual muscles and impeding nerve supply to prevent the muscular spasms causing the stutter. Although successful in that regard, the surgery also left the individual without the full, or even any, controlled use of their tongues. Without the advantages of modern prosthetics, these unfortunate patients were often rendered mute by medical incompetency. By the late-19th century, speech disorders began to be treated in more humane fashions, notably by the use of speech therapy and the emerging field of psychiatry.