Dentists and oral and maxillofacial radiologists have used periapical, occlusal, panoramic, and cephalometric radiographs for many years for diagnosing dental anomalies, especially before orthodontic or surgical treatment. Cone beam computed tomography was developed in recent years especially for the dental and maxillofacial region. Thus it has become the imaging modality of choice for many clinical situations, such as the assessment of dental impaction and structural teeth anomalies or other associated diseases and disorders (e.g., Gardner's syndrome, cleidocranial dysplasia). This article reviews different aspects of dental impaction and its possible effects on adjacent structures such as external root resorption, marginal bone loss, as well as describing structural dental anomalies. It provides a systematic analysis of their characteristic features and imaging findings for general radiologists to achieve a precise diagnosis and an optimal interpretation.
