EAT2012 Book of Proceedings – Appendix 1 of Thermology international 22/3 (2012) 162 Infrared Imaging of the Crânio-Cervico-Mandibular Complex in Bruxism Patients V. Castro 1 , Miguel Clemente 1 , António Silva 2 , Joaquim Gabriel 2 , João Pinho 1 1. Faculty of Dental Medicine 2. LABIOMEP; IDMEC – FEUP campus, Faculty of Engineering University of Porto, Porto, Portugal SUMMARY Many authors have suggested the existence of a functional dependence between the cervical muscle and mastication muscles. In the sequence of this functional dependence postural, changes, specially in the head and neck, can influence certain neuronal-muscular patterns leading to the development temporomandibular disorders. The existing of hyperactivity of the mastication muscle in bruxism patients can originate areas of neuro muscular sensibility, that can be detected by thermography with asymmetric thermogram patterns. It is therefore important to evaluate the existing differences of head and neck posture in bruxism patients and asymptomatic individuals and the respective correlation of the thermographic patterns. The sample of the present study consisted on 32 individuals (16 bruxism patient and 16 asymptomatic individuals) students of the Dental Faculty of Porto University with ages between 22-26 years old. A clinical examination was made in order to diagnose the presence of signs and symptoms of bruxism. The thermographic evaluation was made using the thermographic camera Flir® A325. The ∆T of thermography showed assymetric patterns in the temporomandibular joint and within most of the muscles of the cranio-cervic-mandibular complex. Infrared imaging technique can be a complement method of diagnostic in temporomandibular disorders, when evaluating the possible association of specific muscles of the cranio-cervico- mandibular complex with an increased muscular activity seen in bruxism patients. 1. INTRODUCTION Human body posture control is maintained by the somatosensory, vestibular and visual systems, integrated within the locomotor and central nervous systems (1). Besides all these mechanisms of feed-back and feed- forward, the stomatognatic system (SS) plays also an important role in posture control. Stomatognatic system is a functional unit characterized by several structures such as: skeletal components (maxilla and mandible), dental arches, soft tissues (salivary glands, nervous and vascular supplies), the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and masticatory muscles (1, 2). TMJ works as muscular and ligamentary connector between the cranium and all the cervical region, forming the cranio-cervico- mandibular complex (CCMC) (1). In the sequence of this functional dependence between cervical region and SS, postural changes, specially in the head and neck, can influence certain cranio-cervical neuronal-muscular patterns leading to the development temporomandibular disorders (TMD)(3-6). The presence of TMD may also contribute to postural changes (3-6) The most common posture disorder observed in TMD patients is a forward head position, usually associated with shortening of the posterior cervical muscles and length of the anterior cervical muscles (7-9). According to the American Academy of Orofacial Pain, bruxism is a “psychophysiological disorder that can be defined as diurnal or nocturnal tooth contact parafunctional activity, such as clenching and grinding” (10). This parafunctional activity take to a situation of hyperactivity of the mastication muscle that can originate areas of neuro-muscular sensibility that can be detected by thermography with asymmetric thermogram patterns (6, 8, 9, 11- 14). Thermography involves the detection of infrared radiation that can be directly correlated with the temperature distribution of a defined body region and appears as a non-radiating, non-contact and non-invasive analysis tool which provides informations on the basis of temperature patterns and evaluation of temperature asymmetry (12, 14- 18).