A Novel Method for Characterizing Beam Hardening Artifacts in Cone-beam Computed Tomographic Images.

•A novel method is described to characterize and quantify beam hardening artifacts in cone-beam computed tomographic images.•The influence of root canal filling materials with differing K absorption edge values is evaluated.•Root canal filling materials with lower K absorption edge material properties reduce the beam hardening artifacts along the entire length of the root canal and reduce the contribution of the “dark” artifact.