Dental photography in dentistry: camera, file saving

About the quality of the provision of dental services 20 years ago in Russia, the loss of a certain number of teeth, replaced by bridges that injure a couple of adjacent teeth, placement of fillings of dubious quality is scary recall.

It is not possible to find out the exact reason for such phenomena, whether it is the unprofessionalism of the dentist or lost time, since the documentation, if it was carried out, was only from the words of a specialist.

Since dentistry has changed dramatically. The specialists have the opportunity to improve themselves through seminars and learn new methods that simplify the life of both the dentist himself in his work and the patient.

One of these methods can be safely called dental photography, which allows you to track the entire history of treatment even after a large number of years. It helps regulate the relationship between clinics and their clients, increasing the level of trust in medical institutions and raising their prestige.

Basic goals

Photographing purposes:

1. Documentation in the form of photographs from the moment of treatment to the end of treatment allows the patient to be in the course of all the manipulations performed with it and compare the results before and after, assessing the quality execution.
2. In the future, dental photography will help to avoid misunderstandings between the dentist and the client, since it will not be difficult to reveal the truth, based on the documentation of all stages of treatment.
3. The doctor has the opportunity to think about the upcoming treatment, assessing the defects and characteristics of the patient's teeth, since the photo contains all the necessary details, right down to the color of the enamel. The pictures allow you to have a complete picture not only of the color, but also of the structure and shape of the teeth, which will also make it easier for dental technicians to develop crowns or inlays.
4. Correction of the doctor's shortcomings. The ability to analyze your own work helps to correct mistakes made in time, or, on the contrary, to evaluate your quality work.
5. The use of dental photographs at symposia and master classes shows a high level of professionalism, since the opinion of a specialist is supported by irrefutable facts recorded in the photo in all details.
6. Drawing up a portfolio of a doctor. Pictures can show the result of his work in examples "before and after", which equates to irrefutable evidence of his professionalism.

Video about dental photography in modern dentistry:

Working with snapshots

The standardization and archiving of dental photography must be given special attention, since the main task is to preserve all information from the first visit of the client with the recorded problems that brought him to the clinic, to the moment of their complete elimination.

Standardization

The photo is taken on a solid background. The camera is installed at face level and the patient must look straight ahead.

Standard types of pictures are taken:

• face with a smile;
• resting face;
• smile;
• smile on the right side;
• smile on the left side;
• front teeth straight, left, right (using a retractor);
• front teeth close-up straight, left and right (using a retractor);
• the plane of the bite of the upper and lower jaw;
• upper and lower incisors to the lumen.

It is recommended to take at least eight photographs at the time of the first visit in order to capture all the nuances for future work. If necessary, you can take an additional series of images at the discretion of a specialist.

The moment of setting the thermal temperature during shooting, which is measured on the Kelvin scale, is very important. To correct the color temperature, the white balance is adjusted in the digital camera software.

The color scheme should be as comfortable as possible for a person's gaze. The most natural pictures with correct color reproduction are obtained with a color temperature between 5300-5500 Kelvin.

Archiving

Correct work with photographs implies the need to install optimization software. As a rule, such programs are attached to the camera and help to view the pictures taken online, helping to constructively consult the patient without wasting unnecessary time.

Many people use special programs to archive photos. The most popular one and helps to quickly sort pictures is FotoStation. The data are found very easily, as the program has built-in keyword search filters, which helps to quickly find the information of interest for each patient.

The problem is that at the moment the program in the Russian version does not work yet, although negotiations with the developers about adapting the program for the Russian user are underway.

While a special program is not available for Russian clinics, specialists are forced to get out of the situation by their own methods.

One of the suggested storage methods is to create a folder on the clinic's shared resource and prevent access to deleting photos. In this folder, each specialist places photos of his patients by last name.

Thus, a client base of dental photographs is formed, which can be accessed by each specialist of the clinic.

Recommended image storage formats are JPEG and RAW. That is, JPEG is a more versatile compressed frame format with good quality, which is sufficient most specialists, while RAW is uncompressed, requires additional processing and weighs much bigger file. Accordingly, the quality of the RAW format is much higher, which is not required by everyone.

Technical equipment

In order for the shooting to take place in a fast mode, without losing quality, it is necessary to fully equip the room with the following equipment:

• retractors;
• UV lamps;
• occlusive crystal mirror;
• side crystal mirror;
• contrast;
• cling film to protect the lens when shooting.

The maintenance of the technical equipment in good condition is monitored by a dental assistant, and the settings and the quality of the photographs are monitored by the dentist himself. This division of responsibilities makes the overall photography process easier.

It is important to prepare the location itself:

• choose the right background (black cloth without shine or a subject table);
• prepare reflectors (cardboard, whatman paper).

Video tutorial on photography in dentistry:

Camera, lens, macro flash

In theory, any kind of digital camera can be used to create a dental image. The question is that the clarity of the pictures depends on its quality, which is extremely important in the case of the need to obtain accurate information, since the main task of photography is to capture all the details.

It is best to use a DSLR for taking pictures, given that this is a great opportunity to capture every detail of interest while shooting in the highest quality.

European specialists in most clinics use Canon technology (camera, macro flash, lens).

The Canon 70D is the best camera for this, as it is suitable for indoor photography. practically any lighting and will help to capture an object from absolutely any angle, without loss of quality photos. The pictures are obtained as detailed as possible, which is what is required.

The Canon Macro Ring MR-14EX flash for macro photography is perfectly combined with the above camera and has its undeniable advantages, possessing such qualities as:

• double lamps for adjusting brightness;
• LED lamps that simplify focusing and the procedure for creating a photo;
• even illumination thanks to the design of the ring flash;
• high performance;
• reliability.

When choosing a lens for macro photography, experts rely on quality, functionality and affordability. The Canon EF 100mm f / 2.8 USM Macro Lens Review combines all these advantages perfectly with a 1: 1 magnification ratio and built-in stabilization mode for manual shooting. Ease of use is also important when working with dental photography and is here to the fullest.

Contrastors, mirrors, retractors

For a full-fledged high-quality shooting, it is necessary to take care of the presence of contrasts, mirrors and retractors in the shooting room. Let's consider what function they have.

Contrasts are devices that create a black background and focus only on the part of the dentition that is of interest. The black background immediately emphasizes all visual problems.

It is better to give preference to anodized aluminum contrast agents, as it can be processed with high pressure and steam during sterilization.

Before sterilization, it is recommended to place them in a soapy solution rather than a chemical solution, so as not to damage the black layer.

Mirrors for shooting inside the mouth are three-millimeter thick glass coated with platinoids, which are not prone to oxidation and have the property of good reflecting light.

The mirrors must be handled with great care as they are fragile and sensitive, therefore processing before sterilization and direct sterilization must be carried out separately from the rest of the equipment and maximally carefully.

In order to take a dental photo, you must have at least 2 mirrors: occlusal, for photographing dental arches, lingual surfaces of the anterior teeth, pictures of teeth when closing and lateral - for the chewing surface of the teeth and the lingual surface of the lateral teeth.

Retractors in dentistry are devices for obtaining a good view through the abduction of soft tissues, in other words, mouth retractors. The retractor shapes can be in the form of plates, hooks, shoulder blades, etc. Their main role is to fix the mouth open, which makes the dentist's work easier and helps the patient to feel comfortable. The structure of modern devices is soft, so it does not injure mucous tissues.

Photography technique

Removing the inside of the mouth using macro photography is not an easy procedure.

To come to the planned result, you must adhere to the following rules:

• work is carried out only in manual mode without autofocus;
• it is necessary to install the contrastor at a distance sufficient from the teeth of interest to prevent the appearance of glare;
• it is required to heat the mirror with hot water before shooting so that it does not fog up;
• it is necessary to avoid getting the nose into the frame with the upper front teeth, photographing the dental arch in such a way that it occupies the entire area of ​​the picture;
• thoroughly remove saliva before shooting and blow out chewing surfaces;
• set sensitivity to light 3200 ISO;
• remove the flash before shooting and turn on all the necessary lighting.

Practical dental photography. Video:

Dental photography is a breakthrough in the provision of dental services, a useful and high-quality solution to all emerging problems in a civilized society.