{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]],"date-time":"2025-12-01T13:58:39Z","timestamp":1764597519210,"version":"3.46.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]],"date-time":"2025-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764547200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Infrared thermography (IRT) is a non-invasive, non-ionizing imaging modality capable of rapidly capturing surface temperature variation. In dentistry, particularly orthodontics and TMD evaluation, IRT may serve as a valuable complementary tool to be added in conventional diagnostic protocols. Objective: Correlate possible relationships between thermographic findings of orofacial structures and cephalometric landmarks. Methods: An infrared imaging camera, FLIR\u00ae i7, was used to record the regions of interest, correspondent to the temporal, masseter and orbicular oris muscles, in adolescents (n = 22). Bilateral temperature differences were considered as thermal asymmetries with a conventional threshold of 0.3 \u00b0C to distinguish an eventual hyperactivity or hyperfunctions of detrimental structures. The Trevisi cephalometric parameters that were taken into consideration for the study were SNA, SNB, ANB, OccltoSn, Wits relation to base and Molar\/canine classes. Results: Most of the participants showed a normal temperature difference \u0394\u03a4 for the upper and lower orbicular oris muscle, right vs. left, 96% and 92%, respectively. The other ROIs presented a mixed pattern of thermal asymmetries; however, no statistically significant differences were found when crossed with the cephalometric landmarks. Conclusions: Asymmetrical patterns of infrared thermography can aid on the diagnosis and treatment plan of an orthodontic appointment, since the actual stability of pos-orthodontic treatment is highly dependent on the muscular activity of the tongue and lips, in particular when the patient has atypical swallowing. Our findings suggest that this technique can be used to quantify anatomical landmarks relevant to craniofacial morphology in specific populations, particularly at ages where muscular functional activity is strongly correlated with dentoskeletal development.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children12121635","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]],"date-time":"2025-12-01T13:03:02Z","timestamp":1764594182000},"page":"1635","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Implementation of Infrared Thermography as Complementary Diagnostic Tool in Orthodontic Treatment Plan\u2014Pilot Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5309-4392","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andr\u00e9","family":"Brand\u00e3o de Almeida","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Lisbon Pediatric Dentistry Service (SOL\u2014Servi\u00e7o Odontopedi\u00e1trico de Lisboa), Santa Casa da Miseric\u00f3rdia de Lisboa, Largo Trindade Coelho, 1200-470 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Lisbon Academic Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Egas Moniz School of Health and Science, Instituto Superior de Ci\u00eancias da Sa\u00fade Egas Moniz, 2829-511 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7226-0715","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andr\u00e9","family":"Moreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-393 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Physiology and Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2024-3408","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel Pais","family":"Clemente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology and Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4254-1879","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joaquim","family":"Mendes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INEGI, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1095-8090","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco","family":"Salvado e Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lisbon Academic Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Merla, A., and Romani, G.L. 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