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Updated: Nov 28, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing CBCT and Digital Dental Image Integration with AI-Assisted Digitization
Published on: February 23, 2024
Diagnosis of cracked teeth using cone-beam computed tomography: literature review and clinical experience
Antian Gao1, Dantong Cao1, Zitong Lin1
1Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Abstract:
Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has been widely used in diagnosis of vertical root fractures (VRFs) in recent years. According to the American Association of Endodontists (AAE) classification, there are five types of cracked teeth and VRF is one of them. Due to the variability and overlapping of the cracks and fractures, some narrow fractures on the roots of VRFs could not be detected by CBCT, and some wide cracks on the crown of cracked teeth could be detected by CBCT. In this review, we firstly discussed the value of CBCT in the diagnosis of the AAE five types of cracked teeth and presented CBCT manifestations of some typical cases. Secondly, we summarized the factors influencing the diagnosis of cracks/fractures using CBCT, namely, CBCT device-related factors, patient-related factors, and evaluator-related factors. The possible strategies to improve the diagnostic accuracy in the clinic practice are also discussed in this part. Finally, we compared the differences of root fractures with lateral canals and external root resorption on CBCT images.
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