Periodontal Disease Identification based on Bone Loss using Image Processing

Abstract

The rate of oral periodontitis of 30% are being highly reported worldwide. Periodontal disease is associated with the infection of the gingiva (gum) and loss of the jaw bone, which may lead to loss of teeth. Major reason for periodontal disease development is improper oral hygiene. Also smoking, hormonal changes and usage of tobacco and certain medicine intensifies the periodontal disease occurrence. Periodontitis is characterized by bleeding and swollen gums, bad breathe, loosening of teeth and so on.  Identification of periodontal disease at early stages is very important to prevent further oral health and overall health complications. The need for precise diagnostic tool is most important nowadays. Dentist generally use Panoramic Images or Orthopantomograms (OPG) to identify any dental inconsistency. A panoramic radiograph is a two-dimensional representation of the upper and lower jaw from ear to ear. Usually in the dental panoramic x-rays, the image quality is poor due to the different underlying anatomical structures. Due to which there arises a need to introduce image processing techniques that sufficiently allows a Dentist to diagnose with higher accuracy.