Thermography – A Review

Abstract

Thermography is a technique of measurement of skin temperature distribution on the body over a given period of time. It is a noncontact, noninvasive method that utilizes the heat from an object to detect, display, and record thermal patterns and temperature across the surface of the object. Over the years, various devices have been used to measure the amount of heat dissipated by the body and most recently thermography has been emerged to detect the oral and maxillofacial pathologies. It is used to detect malignancies of the maxillofacial region such as vitality of teeth, TMJ disorders, chronic orofacial pain, assessing inferior alveolar nerve decit, and detection of herpes labialis. The present article highlights the history, basic principles, types and applications of thermography and its benecial role in detecting the maxillofacial pathologies in dentistry.