Vol.6 (2016) No. 3 ISSN: 2088-5334 Identification of The Proximal Caries of Dental X-Ray Image with Multiple Morphology Gradient Method Jufriadif Na`am # , Johan Harlan *1 , Sarifuddin Madenda *2 , Eri Prasetio Wibowo *3 # Computer Science Faculty, Putra Indonesia University, Padang, 25221, Indonesia E-mail: jufriadifnaam@gmail.com * Computer Science Faculty, Gunadarma University, Jakarta, 16424, Indonesia E-mail: 1 harlan_johan@hotmail.com; 2 sarif@staff.gunadarma.ac.id; 3 prasetyo@u-bourgogne.fr Abstract— This study aims to perform the sharpening of the dental x-ray image in the form of a panoramic dental x-ray. The method used in this study was segmentation morphology consisting of the dilation, erosion and gradient process. This study also developed a process of morphology gradient of subtracting morphology dilation results with the results of morphology erosion dilation in iterating basis. The results achieved indicate that the image enhancement process in each iteration stage can display caries objects clearly, making it easier to identify proximal caries. In this study have been compiled a looping morphology gradient algorithm which is called multiple morphology gradient. Keywords— Multiple Morphology Gradient; dilation; erosion; gradient; dental x-ray; cropping; histogram I. INTRODUCTION Health problems in the teeth tend to be ignored, because it does not endanger human life [1]. If the bacteria that invade the teeth already inflamed to the gums, bacteria will release endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide). This endotoxin will pass through the blood circulation that can lead to heart disease and stroke [2]. About 80% of Indonesia's population has a broken tooth due to various reasons, but the most common was dental caries or cavities [3]. Spreading of caries starts from the email, dentin and to the pulp chamber that contains nerves and blood vessels, causing pain [4]. There are several types of caries, among which are proximal caries which is commonly found in the layer between the premolars and molars. The most difficult caries to detect is proximal caries [5]. This type can not be detected visually or manually using dental diagnostic tools. Proximal caries requires radiographic examination called a dental x-ray. Dental x-ray can observe areas of the teeth and determine how much of tooth decay [6], so that a radiographic examination is still being used for the most common approach to the proximal caries [7]. The examination dental x-rays produces images in soft copy. In order for image can be interpreted correctly by the human eye, it would require image processing [8],[9]. The objective of this study is to develop a processing system for detecting proximal caries on dental x-ray image of people with dental caries. II. MATERIALS AND METHOD In building a processing system for detecting proximal caries toward the image of dental x-ray of patients with dental caries is needed a research method comprising the steps of: image dental X-ray, pre-processing, morphology dilation, morphology erosion and Multiple Morphology Gradient (Fig. 1). The Multiple Morphology Gradient (mMG) is one stage which is a method developed as the contribution of this study. Fig. 1 Stages of processing 343