Fig. 3

a, b, c) A J-shaped radiolucency, seen in the left image around the mesial root of tooth 46, typically indicates vertical root fracture (VRF). VRF may also present as a halo-shaped radiolucency around the root and involve the furcation of multirooted teeth (right image). Root fractures are often not directly detectable on CBCT imaging due to insufficient voxel size, non-axial cleavage planes and beam hardening artefacts due to restorative materials, such as metal posts (seen as white streaks and black bands in the middle image). It should be noted that a root groove may mimic a VRF radiographically (Fig. 4)