THERMOVISION IN DENTAL ALLERGOLOGY

Abstract

In the present study we aimed to optimize the thermal imaging method for evaluation of skin patch test reactions in dental clinical allergology. A total of 30 patients without a history of allergic diseases were included in the study - 12 men and 18 women, age 21 - 32 years. Skin patch testing was performed with a set of 20 standardized allergens. The thermographic investigations were performed with the FlirT620 infrared camera with a temperature resolution of 0,06°C. Thermograms were analysed using the Flir Reporter Professional software 2013. The statistical analysis of the results revealed an average correlation between the clinical evaluation of the results according to the cheme of ICDRG and the thermal image diagnostic (rphi = 0.538, p = 0.001). Absolute matching of clinical and thermal image results was observed only for the negative ones. For the clinically positive skin patch results matching with thermal image method was observed in 60.7% of the cases. Optimization of thermal imaging as a method for evaluation of skin patch test results could serve as a safe, accurate and non-invasive method, especially to distinguish weak (+), doubtful and irritant reactions, although not standardized criteria to distinguish these reactions have been elaborated yet. Crucial factor for the accurate interpretation of results is the precise diagnosing performed by well-trained physicians in this area, with clinical relevance, to minimize the role of subjective factors.

Keywords

• thermal imaging
• dental allergology
• skin patch testing