Integrating Numerical Data with AI-Based Image Processing Techniques to Improve the Diagnostic Accuracy of Detecting Dental Caries in Panoramic Radiographs

<b>Background/Objectives</b>: Dental caries is among the most common oral health problems, resulting from demineralization of dental hard tissues in acidic environments. Early diagnosis is essential to prevent severe tissue destruction, systemic complications and costly treatments. Conventional visual interpretation of panoramic radiographs, though widely used, remains subjective and variable. This study evaluated the effectiveness of image processing techniques and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted models for automated detection and classification of dental caries on panoramic radiographs, emphasizing numerical image data analysis. <b>Methods</b>: From 1084 panoramic radiographs, 405 were selected and classified into interproximal, occlusal and secondary caries groups. Each was segmented and one representative region was analyzed using the image data representation method. Numerical descriptors-brightness, contrast, entropy and histogram parameters-were extracted and evaluated with several machine learning algorithms. <b>Results:</b> Among tested models, the Decision Tree algorithm achieved the highest classification accuracy (0.988 at the 0.2 train-test ratio), showing superior and consistent results across caries types. Random Forest also demonstrated strong performance with limited training data, while Gaussian Naïve Bayes, KNN and RBFNN were less effective. <b>Conclusions</b>: The integration of numerical image features with AI-based models demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy and clinical interpretability, particularly with Decision Tree algorithm. These results highlight the potential of AI-assisted analysis of panoramic radiographs to enhance diagnostic reliability, reduce subjectivity and support more effective treatment planning. Further multicentre studies with larger and more diverse datasets are recommended to validate generalizability.