Algorithm to Identify Enamel Caries and Interproximal Caries Using Dental Digital Radiographs

Diagnosis of dental diseases is conventionally carried out with the help of radiographic films. As a result of noise and other environmental interferences, use of radiographic films introduces errors. This paper presents an algorithm to use digital periapical radiographic images to detect enamel caries and interproximal caries. This will help dental practitioners to identify caries lesion with ease. This study makes use of MATLAB and it performs caries detection in three stages. First stage is the preprocessing phase where rotation of an image is performed, if necessary. Histogram study of the image is carried out to understand the intensity of carries. The second phase is image segmentation where individual tooth area is separated. Third phase is the identification phase where caries are detected. If caries are not detected, tooth is definitely healthy.