Metrology and Digital Image Processing in Dentistry

Abstract

Metrological techniques using digital image processing techniques have been extended into different fields of science such as optics, meteorology, mineralogy, agriculture, and medicine, among others. In the field of medicine, particularly in dentistry, it is important to perform different dental measurements to support the biometric work of specialists using panoramic radiographic images. Due to the poor capturing of these radiographic images, several problems, such as poor contrast and quality, are generally present. As the detection of the dental area must be done using these images, this chapter presents an algorithm that will assist in bettering image quality and make the dental measurements needed. This is done by binarizing using the histogram statistics of the image for the determination of threshold in order to establish sections of the teeth and the detection of the intramaxillary section by fitting a nonlinear function. The proposed method is applied to panoramic digital radiographs of subjects with permanent dentition (≥12 years and <30 years). The algorithm achieved an adjustment of 96% of the processed radiographs as a result from patients of the School of Dentistry of the Universidad de la Salle Bajío.