Abstract

Appropriate radiographic interpretation is critical for providing high-quality patient care. The radiograph’s wealth of data assists dentists in prescribing the best treatment option for their patients. Dental radiographs, particularly Ortho Pantomograms (OPGs) and periapical radiographs taken with low radiation doses, are frequently dark, low in contrast, and noisy. Image enhancement protocols are applied to radiographs to resolve these issues. However, selecting an appropriate technique is a tedious task, especially for the purpose of disease diagnosis. This study aims to survey standard image enhancement techniques for enhancing OPG and periapical radiographs. This study also investigates the potential image enhancement protocols conducted and what are the key factors involved in selecting a protocol for a certain type of dental disease. This review categorized the radiograph enhancement algorithm into three types: Contrast enhancement, frequency transforms and de noising filters, and deep learning. Extensive research has been conducted on the use of contrast enhancement and de noising filter algorithms for radiographs. The use of deep learning to enhance panoramic and periapical radiographs is still an emerging idea, and many potential results exist.

Keywords: Radiographic Enhancement; Dental radiographs; Orthopantomograms (OPG); Panoramic radiographs; Periapical radiographs