Nowadays, dental intra-oral camera photography is an integral part of dental examination and patient education. Understanding all of the general methods for intra-oral camera use will inspire creative and valuable dental intraoral camera photography in your daily practice. Here are some useful examples you might like to consider:
New Patient Examinations and Comprehensive Examinations
As new patient examinations involve total discovery about the patient, intraoral camera photography brings to life noteworthy conditions within the mouth for the dentist and patient to see and talk over together. This practice is commonly referred to as co-diagnosis and it is ultimately enhanced with the assistance of dental IOC photography. Whereas the dentist will have to reference other diagnostic methods, IOC magnification allows the patient to see intricate details of specific conditions that would not be visible or easily understood using more sophisticated diagnostic aids. Numerous potentially pathologic conditions may not be felt or seen by the patient. The enlarged color views on dental intra oral camera images will allow the dentist and patient to view and discuss the conditions and their options for treatment. The pictures provide an advantage both educationally and technically for building rapport with the new patient. Snapshots can be stored and used at succeeding appointments.
In utilizing intra oral camera images, it is important to establish a pattern of images that you will regularly want to take and store in your patient software files. The pictures will be a great reference for patient care and professional communication. Having a set list of photos you routinely take will ensure that you could refer to those images at any time in the future should you need them for comparison, insurance claim support, referral sharing, and treatment planning.
Below is a list of useful images to consider capturing routinely:
- Full face photo
- Smile photo
- Open bite smile
- Individual occlusal photos of teeth
- Mandibular lingual anterior photo
- Buccal views
- Lingual views
- Tongue image
- Soft tissue areas of interest
Afterward, as all diagnostics are compiled, the dentist can combine them to formulate a proper diagnosis. Almost all patients can understand a picture easily. Having the patient’s dental intra-oral camera images on the chair-side monitor will save time, and make comprehension of conditions and recommended treatments interesting and straightforward. Some dentists like to keep their intra-oral camera system in video mode to create a live video of the patient examination. This may be copied and given to the patient, although this may prove to be more time consuming to view than embedding pictures into a printed treatment plan.
Depending on your preference, printed images or videos can complement your patient examination and treatment endorsements, when provided to the patient post-appointment.
Periodic Examination during Hygiene Visits
Patient treatment visits with the hygienist characteristically outnumber dentist appointments. This means that the hygienist would have more chair time handling the patient, more time establishing rapport, and more time monitoring conditions with dental intraoral camera images. Whereas dentists, by state law, should provide periodic dental examinations either every 6 months or at least once per year, most times, it is the hygienist that invites the dentist into their operatory to view and assess patient conditions. Intraoral camera images allow for fast, magnified capture of questionable conditions, and they can greatly aid the dentist upon his arrival. Enlarged images can help the dentist assimilate whether more predictable diagnostic measures, like comprehensive exams, radiographs, or tactile examination, need to be performed.
In addition to its convenience, keeping dental IOC images up and visible during hygiene treatment can be beneficial in educating the patient about their most critical conditions. When the dentist has given the diagnosis and presented the treatment options, the hygienist can help clarify or answer the patient’s queries. This could lead to treatment acceptance using the hygiene appointment in a very constructive way.
During Treatment Evaluation
IOC images can provide valuable visual evaluation of tooth preparations for a dentist. Numerous dentists routinely scan their work in progress using the dental intra oral camera wand prior to doing the process of restoration. Images can reveal where a crown margin needs to have more definitive groundwork or where decay needs to be more adequately removed. If pulp exposure is eminent, the dentist could capture an intra oral camera image before completing the current treatment, and deliberate endodontic implications with the patient.
Before and After Comparison
Before and after pictures are an asset in both hygiene and restorative situations. They could be used to capture healing and changes of tissue, illustrate aesthetic improvements, monitor the progress of whitening the patient’s teeth, and show variances in restorative quality. With before and after photographs, patients could reaffirm their right choice in investing in their dental health.