Automatic reconstruction method for high-contrast panoramic image from dental cone-beam CT data.

•An automatic reconstruction method for high-contrast panoramic image from dental CBCT data is proposed.•The thickness detection of the dental arch effectively overcomes the inaccuracy of the manual setting and reduces the non-interesting tissues in panoramic image reconstruction.•The method proposes a new synthesis algorithm that can effectively improve the contrast of panoramic images.•An image enhancement algorithm is applied to improve the detail contrast of the final panoramic image.•The method could automatically and reliably improve the global and detail contrast of the panoramic image generated from dental CBCT data.