A visualization system for intelligent diagnosis and statistical analysis of oral diseases based on panoramic radiography

Abstract

Panoramic radiography is an essential auxiliary diagnostic tool for oral diseases. It is a difficult and time-consuming task to conduct extensive panoramic radiography interpretation. These challenges are exacerbated by the creation of electronic medical records and the investigation of oral diseases using collective data. So, we develop a visualization system based on panoramic radiographs. Its function focuses on the intelligent diagnosis and statistical analysis of oral diseases. Firstly, we provide a human-machine collaborative tool for the diagnosis and data extraction of oral diseases in panoramic radiographs. After that, the system generates electronic medical records, including visual charts of oral health status and radiology reports. We further develop statistical correlation analysis to visually evaluate and interactively explore the statistical data from oral health surveys. We conduct intelligent diagnosis, obtain the electronic medical records and do collective analysis based on 521 panoramic radiographs. The available analyses cover disease-prone teeth, disease distribution per tooth position and association of age, sex with oral diseases. The results are reported from a comprehensive case study showing that our system can improve the efficiency in disease detection and data mining. It can also fuel research studies in the field of public oral health and provide robust support for oral healthcare strategies.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Oral disease; Panoramic radiography; Statistical analysis; Visualization system.

Fig. 1

The flowchart of our system.

Fig. 2

Intelligent diagnosis and statistical analysis system for oral diseases based on panoramic radiographs. (A) A control panel enabling users to load data sets and select the specified patient, whose basic information is presented below. (B) The panoramic view to show the labeled panoramic radiography. (C) The electronic medical record including the number of teeth, oral health risk index, the occurrences of six diseases and radiology report. (D) The heat map to show the prevalence rate per tooth position. (E) The bar view to present the disease distribution.

Fig. 3

Heat maps for all six diseases and each disease. Heat maps depicting the prevalence of six oral diseases (caries, pulp exposure, periradicular lesions, impacted teeth, residual roots, and missing teeth) across tooth positions. Each map uses a gradient color scale where deeper red shades indicate higher prevalence. These maps emphasize disease hotspots, such as the mandibular first molars for caries and residual roots, highlighting their clinical importance for preventive care.

Fig. 4

Gender and age distribution of caries affecting tooth 46. The bar chart on the left depicts the distribution across genders and age groups, while the map on the right identifies the corresponding tooth position.

Fig. 5

Six oral diseases related to gender and age. The bar lengths indicate the total number of affected teeth in each category.

Fig. 6

The feedback of the user study. The bar charts represent ratings (on a scale of 1–7) for each question within three categories: system function, system usability and system design. High scores across all categories indicate the system’s strong acceptance among dentists. These results validate the system’s potential for clinical application. SD: Standard deviation.