Applicability of infrared thermography in dentistry: an updated literature review

Abstract

In health, the prognosis is linked to an accurate diagnosis. However, in a diagnostic imaging exam, often the subjectivity of signs/symptoms, associated with the overlapping of anatomical structures or the presence of image artifacts, hindering the accuracy of diagnoses and procedures. For centuries, has been known that excess of heat or cold has been associated with dysfunction or disease. An infrared term consists of a functional diagnostic method for imaging that allows inferring an organ/tissue dysfunction using temperature. It is based on recording differences in body temperature and detecting patterns of thermal asymmetry in contralateral regions of the body. In this context, this study aims to perform a narrative review updated about the applicability of infrared thermography in Dentistry. Studies regarding the use of infrared thermography in dentistry from 1956 to 2019 were considered eligible. No current panorama, which principles such as: sustainability, effectiveness, health promotion and disease prevention, perform as world health guidelines, this study corroborates with the conception that an insertion of the thermographic exam in Dentistry that can favor early diagnoses of dysfunctions/pathologies, allowing a better direction for other exams and contributions for the choice of more assertive therapies. Thus, although an infrared term still has an incipient literature and a questionable accurate, the use of this auxiliary method of analysis is very promising in Dentistry and in several other areas of health and knowledge.Thermography. Diagnostic imaging. Mouth diseases. Temporomandibular joint disorders.