ABSTRACT
In the last few years the improvement in digital image acquisition devices had allowed some attempts to quantitatively assess changes in teeth by image analysis techniques. In Kaczmarek et al. (2003), the boundary between the enamel and the dentin was detected and quantitative measurements were performed. The quantitative results allowed to show the range of carious lesions in fissure sealant and unprotected human premolars: the aim was to quantitatively assess caries changes of teeth by digital image analysis, that was performed manually. In Imbeni et al. (2005), the propagation of cracks initiated in the enamel was studied and the results were confirmed by visual inspection considering images taken by the scanning electron microscope (SEM). In Kruzic et al. (2003), the effect of hydration over crack blunting and on the fracture mechanics are studied; microscopy and x-ray tomography were considered. Also in this case the images were considered to confirm the experimental results and no image analysis was performed. In Kantapanit et al. (2001), dental caries lesions were detected using deformable polygonal templates and edge information of teeth were found by the Canny edge detector.
