Assessment of rewarming time in teeth with pulpitis using infrared thermography: A cross-sectional, observational study.

CONTEXT: Early and accurate differentiation between reversible and irreversible pulpitis is vital for appropriate treatment planning and prognosis in pediatric patients. Conventional sensibility tests are subjective and assess neural response rather than true pulpal vitality, which is determined by blood flow. Infrared thermography offers a noninvasive, contactless technique to measure surface temperature recovery, potentially reflecting pulpal vascular status.

AIMS: The study aimed to compare thermographic rewarming time between teeth with reversible pulpitis and healthy controls, irreversible pulpitis and healthy controls, and reversible and irreversible pulpitis using infrared thermography.

SETTINGS AND

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional, observational study conducted in the Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Goa Dental College and Hospital.

METHODS

Thirty children with symptomatic permanent molars were included, contributing 60 teeth (30 test teeth and 30 control teeth). Diagnoses were established as per the American Association of Endodontists criteria. After cold stimulus with Endo Frost spray, rewarming time was recorded at intervals up to 120 s using the TOPDON TC001 infrared camera (thermal sensitivity <0.05°C, accuracy ±2°C, and resolution 256 × 192). Blinding of the operator and statistician was maintained throughout.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Median (interquartile range) values were calculated and analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Mann-Whitney U -test.

RESULTS

Irreversible pulpitis cases showed a significantly prolonged rewarming time (90 s; P = 0.002) compared to controls. Rewarming time also significantly differed between reversible and irreversible cases ( P = 0.003).

CONCLUSIONS

Infrared thermography reliably demonstrated delayed rewarming in irreversible pulpitis, suggesting it is a promising adjunctive diagnostic tool for distinguishing pulpal inflammatory states.