Thermal Condition of Muscle Area Around the Temporomandibular Joint in Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Using Infrared Thermography Application: A Case Report

Recently, the use of infrared thermography in medical has been increasingly developed and widely used in medical devices to detect diseases, including one used in the field of dentistry, which can be used to detect joint conditions in case of temporomandibular disorder (TMD). Some literature has shown this method of infrared thermography was used to determine the surface temperature of the skin based on the emission of infrared radiation from the body. Thermal measurement is also a noninvasive method that does not provide patient inconvenience, but its application until now has not been so wide. The case study reported on the description of thermal condition of muscle area around temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in a 42-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease. She had experienced TMD. Infrared thermography is applied to observe the thermal condition of the muscle area around the right and left joints by thermal detection. Thermal measurement was obtained on infrared image capture, and the temperature difference was found to be greater than 0.3°C. Several studies have shown that temperature in the area around TMJ was higher, and thermal asymmetry was greater in individuals with joint disorder/TMD when compared with normal groups.