Thermography as a non-ionizing quantitative tool for diagnosing periapical inflammatory lesions

BMC Oral Health

M. Atef Aboushady¹  Nivin Ragy²  Tarek M.Elshazly³  Christoph Bourauel³  Sameh Talaat⁴  Zaid Hamdoon⁵  Wael Talaat⁶ 

[1] Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Future University in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt;Department of Oral Technology, School of Dentistry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany;Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Future University in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt;Department of Oral Technology, School of Dentistry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany;Department of Oral Technology, School of Dentistry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany;Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Future University in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt;Department of Oral and Craniofacial Health Sciences, College of Dental Medicine, University of Sharjah, 27272, Sharjah, UAE;Department of Oral and Craniofacial Health Sciences, College of Dental Medicine, University of Sharjah, 27272, Sharjah, UAE;Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, 27272, Sharjah, UAE;Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Suez Canal University, 41522, Ismaillia, Egypt;

关键词: Thermography;    Acute pulpitis with apical periodontitis;    Acute periapical abscess;    Chronic periapical abscess;    Periapical inflammatory intraoral lesions;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12903-021-01618-9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThermography is a contemporary imaging modality based on acquiring and analyzing thermal data using non-contact devices. The aim of the present study was to assess the validity of thermography, compared with that of the reference-standard, for the diagnosis of periapical inflammatory lesions and to evaluate the temperature ranges for acute pulpitis with apical periodontitis (AAP), acute periapical abscess (AA) and chronic periapical abscess (CA).MethodsAAP, AA and CA were diagnosed based on clinical and radiographic criteria. Thermographic data were acquired using the FLIR E-5 Infrared Camera. Extraoral thermal images were taken from the front and right and left sides of patients whose mouths were closed, and one intraoral thermal image was taken from the palatal perspective. Agreement in the diagnoses based on the combination of clinical and radiographic assessments and the thermographic evaluation was calculated. The temperature ranges of the three diagnostic subgroups were also measured.ResultsA total of 80 patients were enrolled in this study. The mean intraoral thermal image temperature for AA was 37.26 ± 0.36, that for CA was 35.03 ± 0.63 and that for AAP was 36.07 ± 0.45. The differences between the mean intraoral thermal temperatures of the three diagnostic groups were statistically significant (P < 0.001). The result of the Kappa coefficient of agreement between the combination of clinical and radiographic assessments and the thermographic evaluation was significant (P < 0.001).ConclusionsThermography is an effective, quantitative and nonionizing approach that can be used for the diagnosis of periapical inflammatory lesions. The results of the present study indicated that the highest thermal image temperatures were recorded for AA. Thermography might be able to detect inflammatory reactions during the preclinical stage, leading to early diagnosis.

【 授权许可】

CC BY