A Review on Thermography in Dentistry

Abstract

The study and application of biothermal process to assess health or disease is termed as Thermology and the imaging and visual evaluation of these thermal changes is termed "Thermography." Over the years, a variety of devices have been employed to measure body temperature. More recently with the advancement of technology, thermography as a tool has progressed into a beneficiary device in diagnosis. Thermography is a non-contact, non-destructive and non-invasive investigative method that utilises the heat from an object to detect, display and record thermal patterns and temperatures across the surface of the object. Variation in temperature distribution is attributed to variation in blood supply in various pathologies. Thermography is used to detect malignancies of the maxillofacial region, vitality of teeth, craniofacial neuralgia, TMJ disorders and chronic orofacial pain to list a few. This article highlights the basic principles of thermography and its beneficial role in maxillofacial medicine. BACKGROUNDBeing a homeotherm humans are capable of maintaining a constant temperature of the body, which may be different from surrounding temperature. 1 The body of homeotherms can be divided into the inner core and the outer periphery. The core temperature is preserved within a narrow limit (Approximately 42-33 0 C). 2 Regulation of inner core temperature is essential for normal performance of human body. Change in the core temperature by a few degrees is considered as a clear indication of probable illness. 1 As the quantity of blood circulation at various parts of the skin differs, the temperature changes accordingly. Therefore, diseases affect the flow of blood and also result in irregularities in distribution of temperature and when assessed they will yield genuine diagnostic data. 3 From the ancient past, bodily heat was considered as a major symbol of health and implementation of temperature determination along with thermal imaging. As time advanced an array of devices have been employed such as thermometers, thermistors, thermocouples and liquid crystal imaging systems for determining the body temperature. 4 In this review we aim to discuss history, types of thermography and general requirements and guidelines and also highlighted the probable uses of thermography in dentistry.

Non-contact laser-ultrasonic subsurface thermography using waveform inversion

“…Literature Review projects. Commonly-seen applications include non-destructive testing [9], laser welding [10], bio-information collection and analysis in physiology [11][12][13], sport science [14,15], medication [16][17][18][19], ecology [20,21], geomorphic changes monitoring in geology [22], heat transfer analysis [23,24], thermal analysis of semiconductor lasers [25], etc. This method utilizes the fact that the energy radiated from a surface is dependent on its temperature.…”