Digital image processing of dentomaxillofacial radiographs.

The improvement in the image quality of dentomaxillofacial radiographs (panoramic radiographs) with the use of a digital image-processing system was examined. Linear and nonlinear unsharp masking techniques were employed for image processing. The quality of the processed images was found to be markedly improved over that in original radiographs. The detail visibility of linearly enhanced images, especially in low-density areas, was superior to that of nonlinearly enhanced images, although the presence of more artifacts and more noise was noted in linearly enhanced images. Radiographic diagnosis in the dentomaxillofacial region can be improved with this system.