As clinicians and small-business owners, dentists must wear many hats: those of clinician, entrepreneur, marketing executive, staff coach, manager, sometimes diplomat , and photographer . I started taking clinical photography since I started my career in dentistry. Usually , I will try to get something easy to use by the whole team such as Yashica Dental Eye III and Kodak EasyShare DX6490 4MP Digital Camera 10X Optical Zoom and recently a SmileLite and Canon80D. .
Digital photography is an incredible tool for communicating with our patients, our labs, our potential patients, and more.
With DSLR cameras are now affordable and easier to use, more dentists are adding them to their practice, but after the photos are taken, most dentists and their team members don’t know what to do with them or how to use them effectively. One way is to use it with keynote using the Digital Smile Concept.
There are many Continuing Education courses conducted by the professionals for a few days or we can also take courses online. I also learn from watching a lot of YouTube channels on macro photography.
Patients often asked why we took many photos in our clinic. Basically there are for :
1. Showcase Your Work to Patients – it’s far more effective to show patients considering some treatment photos of YOUR work than of someone else’s, especially using famous Hollywood actors .
2. Case Presentation – whether using the iPad, Keynote or whatever, you want an easy way to show patients what is going on in their mouths, whether it’s a single composite veneer or a full mouth rehabilitation with dental implants.
3. Diagnosis – together with Radiography and imaging it is impossible to properly diagnose and treatment plan complex cases without good sets of photographs.
4. Self-Improvement – it’s kind of tough to hide from yourself when the pictures are on a 50″ HD monitor or bigger. Pictures don’t lie, and I know that I am motivated to do better when I take a picture and find some fault that I didn’t see before dismissing the patient.
5. Lab Communication – it’s a LOT easier to communicate with a lab about shade, contour, etc. using high-quality photographs than trying to draw it out on paper. Usually I will share my 3D planning with my ceramists which derive from the basic DSD protocol. — drkamsiah