In this paper, an algorithm for detection of reference spheres from digital panoramic radiographic images is presented. The proposed algorithm was tested on a database of 107 digital panoramic radiographic images which were used for dental diagnostics. Results show that the proposed method exhibits for detection of reference spheres, a sensitivity of 97.33% and specificity of 93.85%. Performance time differed between 0.55 and 2.36s depending on image size. The aim of this work was to provide a fast ellipse detection algorithm to reduce measuring time on preoperative implant planning by lowering the computational cost.