Assessment of oral mucosal temperature as a diagnostic marker for systemic inflammation among dental patients

Oral mucosal temperature as a non-invasive biomarker for systemic inflammation among 180 dental patients is of interest. Systemic inflammation in patients showed significantly higher mucosal temperatures (36.8 ± 0.7°C) than controls and localized inflammation groups (p < 0.001). Strong correlations were observed with serum CRP (r = 0.78), IL-6 (r = 0.72) and TNF-α (r = 0.69). ROC analysis yielded an AUC of 0.89, with 85.3% sensitivity and 82.7% specificity at a 36.2°C cutoff. Thus, we show oral thermography as a viable, non-invasive screening tool.