Dental image charting system and method

A method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of dental images in an electronic format;
• identifying at least one tooth in each of the images;
• identifying a series of boundary locations around each tooth;
• aligning each of the dental images to a panoramic plane;
• generating a panoramic dental image from the aligned images;
• and
• generating at least one electronic dental chart that includes a chart image created from the panoramic dental image, said chart being operable to receive data that was input using at least one of a plurality of input devices, and said chart being further operable to display the data overlaid on top of the chart image.

A system comprising:

• a business logic routine;
• a first computer coupled to the business logic routine, said first computer including at least one of a plurality of input devices, said second computer further including a display device;
• and
• wherein the business logic routine is operable to generate a panoramic dental image from a plurality of dental images, said panoramic dental image illustrating a plurality of teeth;
• to generate at least one electronic dental chart that includes a chart image created from the panoramic dental image;
• to display the at least one dental chart on the display to a user upon request;
• and to receive data input from the user from the at least one of the input devices, said data input including data to be displayed on the at least one dental chart.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a device encoded with logic executable by one or more processors to:
• generate a panoramic dental image in an electronic format from a plurality of dental images, said panoramic dental image illustrating a plurality of teeth;
• generate an image-based dental chart from the panoramic dental image;
• generate a graphic-based dental chart from the panoramic dental image, said graphic-based dental chart including a graphical outline of each of the teeth in the panoramic dental image;
• receive chart data from at least one of a plurality of input devices;
• and
• display the chart data overlaid on top of at least one of the dental charts.