[Digital image processing in the radiographic diagnosis of caries]

Used with x-ray films of entire teeth, digital image processing renders visible not only the contours of initial carious lesions but even histological enamel structures. In over 90% of those cases in which the lesions were deeper than one third of the enamel thickness at least the Hunter-Schreger lines were visible. This improvement in the informative value of x-ray images facilitates the therapeutic decision making process.