05/03/2019 - 13:37
Photography is becoming more important in the dental sector, because it is a good method to keep anillustrative clinical historyabout the patient, facilitating future consultations about past treatments.In the same way, the improvement of a treatment can be seen through anillustrative chronogramso that the patient sees the change in a more visual way and from other points of view which he can not perceive at a glance.
Benefits of the mobile for dental photographs
As not all dental clinics have a good camera, many dentists use their own mobile phone to make these photographs, which also brings a number ofbenefitswith respect to cameras:
- Small opening due to its small size and diaphragm, achieving a wide field of vision in a regular manner.
- Good ISO adjustment, greater sensitivity to light with little noise.
- Good resolution when it comes to showing the details.
- Wide monitor for previewing and viewing images
- The white balance, the expansion, the focus, the ISO, the measurement and the shutter speed, are requirements for the realization of photography, which the phones of the last generations fulfill
The ideal to obtain a good photographic chronogram of the patient's treatments is to takepreoperative and postoperativephotographs.In both cases, these photographs must beintraoral and extraoral,placing the patient in front and in profile, to see the changes produced in both parts of the mouth.
Tricks to get quality photographs
Here are sometricks to get quality intraoral and extraoral photographsmade with your Smartphone:
Intraoral photographs
- First of all we will needlip retractorstohold the lipsand not appear in the image.We will place them at about 45º.
- Disinfect the mobileto avoid possible infections that can be transmitted to the patient.Next, place astraight opaque retractorin the patient's mouthto prevent the tongue from interfering with the image and create reflections and bad contrasts.This opaque retractor will also be used as a base to hold the mobile,always placing it at 45º.
- As forthe luminosity, you can use the light of thelampthat is incorporated in the dental chair.It is not appropriate that the light to be used is that which the lamp directly gives, but the ideal would be todiffuse that lightto lower the intensity.One of the ways to achieve this is by placing awhite clothin the lampthat does not let all the light that it projects, leaving a gap between the lamp and the work,placing it in the shape of a bag.
Another way to achieve this brightness, if you do not have a rag to be able to place in the lamp, is with the use of awhite sheetor using aplastic bagwhich is easier to place
- Theplacement of the lightis an important factor for the quality of the photographs, since it can not be placed in any position.
- There is no need to position yourself just below the lamp so as not to remove lighting from the image or create shadows.It is best to stand aside to take the picture.
- Place the lamp on the patient at about 90 ° to get more texture in the image
If you do not want to use the dental chair lamp for taking pictures, you can also use a ring flash for your phone with LED lighting
- Once the previous steps are completed it is time totake the picture.If you have the"locked focus" functionin your cameraon your phone, yousimply have to click on the screen where you want the image to be more focused and leave with more details.With this you will obtain that your photograph has greater quality!
Extraoral photographs
The extraoral photographs are made asa portrait.With them you can see how the bite affects the morphology of the face.
- The patient should have acompletenatural smile.
- The nose should be in the center of the image.
- Special care must be taken so thatno shadows appearon the wall where the photo is taken.
- The background must bewhite or black.
- Place the patient about50-60 cm in front of the fundusto reduce the shadow.
- Place the mobile phone at the level of the patient's eyes.
General tips
AtDentaltixwe recommend a series oftipsto be able to achievehigher qualityin the photographs taken in the dental clinic without the need of having a professional camera.
- Remove remains suchas plaque, stones, blood, etc.
- Eliminate excess cement.
- Proper useof the camera angle.
- Good positioningof the patient.
- Use auniform background.
- Take into account theframing, focus and values of the camera
- Take into account facial asymmetries.
- Correct tiltingof the camera
Sources:
1,2,3:"How to make dental photography using smartphone and basic items" [Video file].Retrieved fromhttp://www.super-dent.ro
Tags: Dental Clinic Management, Tips and advice
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