The Role of Infrared Thermography in the Diagnosis of Temporomandibular Disorders: A Narrative Review.

Mora, Richard; Balanta, Julián; Contreras, Adolfo

Background: Temporomandibular disorders are a group of musculoskeletal conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in the masticatory muscles, in the temporomandibular joint and in associated anatomical regions, its global prevalence is approximately 5-12% of population, thus generating the most common type of non odontogenic orofacial pain, which in turn increases the costs of care in health systems and reduces the quality of life. These pathologies due to physiological processes of pain and abnormal function can generate changes in temperature, which is why an emerging technological tool called Infrared Thermography has been evaluated in its assessment, which allows measuring temperatures at a distance, which could help in a clinical diagnosis. Multiple clinical trials have made use of this technology based on the thermal heterogeneity of different tissues and their blood flow, which are directly proportional to metabolic activity, which is why it is necessary to review the literature, advances and results of these studies. Objective: To provide a general description of the main findings and conclusions of the available clinical evidence on the effectiveness of infrared thermography in the diagnosis of temporomandibular disorders. Materials and Methods: The initial search included 62 articles, of which 11 were selected for this review, distributed in North America 38%, in Europe 14% and 48% in South America. An extensive electronic search was conducted in the databases: Pubmed, Epistemonikos and Cochrane Library. Conclusion: Most of the studies evaluated have concluded thermography as a promising technology in the diagnosis of temporomandibular joint disorders, the literature is highly variable in reliability criteria for the use of this instrument for the diagnosis of temporomandibular joint disorders, which is is reflected in sensitivity and specificity values with widely marked differential ranges.

TEMPOROMANDIBULAR disorders; JOINT diseases; TEMPOROMANDIBULAR joint; MASTICATORY muscles; OROFACIAL pain

Revista Estomatología, 2024, Vol 32, Issue 2, p1

0121-3873

Academic Journal

10.25100/re.v32i1.13461