Photos are important; in my opinion a camera is one of the primary tools that alldentists should be using. Once the basics of clinical photography are understood it’s quite simple to do and can even be delegated to another member of staff to save clinical time.
One of the most significant benefits of good clinical photography is that it allows you to keep good records, helping you to reassess the quality of your work and improve your standards. As such, having a standardised number of shots is really important. This means you have something that is useful that can be reassessed rather than taking shots that are not comparable. It is also very important that you have a good camera, ideally you should be using a single-lens reflex (SLR) rather than a cheap shooter camera. Even though SLRs look intimidating, they only really have three settings you need to know about to get a nice set of pictures.
As well as being a really useful way of improving the quality of your work, clinical photography offers a number of other benefits. One of the main benefits is that it is really useful for communication. On the patient’s level I recommend that you use photos as part of your initial consultation. This is really useful for giving patients information on what you see, but is also useful for co-diagnosis so you’re both involved in looking at pictures together, and the patient is encouraged to become a part of the whole process. This isn’t just good for treatment acceptance it also improves patient consent.
On another level of course, a good set of clinical photos can also improve your communication with other members of the team. If it is going to be a multi-disciplinary case for example you can send your photos to the periodontist or orthodontist. Photos are also useful for technicians, as it helps them see the patient as ‘the patient’ rather than just a model. This leads to better quality outcomes all round.
I also find that good use of photography in practice is a great way of managing patient expectations. It is particularly good when it comes to bleaching. If you can take a picture alongside a shade tab beforehand the patient can see for themselves the colour of their teeth, and you can discuss with them the different whitening options available, the benefits of each and how much change they can expect. This is a very useful way of helping you to moderate their expectations. After the treatment is complete you can then take another set of photos to show just how much change the whitening has brought about. This way the patient feels like they have got good value for money.
Incorporating photography into your working life is therefore a worthy investment for both you and your patients. With a little practise you will be able to get a full set of images withing a minute. This is something I hope to prove at the BACD Annual Conference in November, where I will be presenting on the topic of digital photography, explaining why I believe in it as well as giving lots of hints and tips, from organising images to some of the more technical aspects, showing delegates how using photography in their practice can take their dentistry to the next level.