They say a picture is worth a thousand words. When it comes to cameras and dentistry, it is really ture.You made the wise decision to purchase an intraoral camera because you thought it would be a good addition to your practice. The problem is that it’s not being used, and currently there is little or no return on your investment.

The intraoral camera enlarges the inside of the teeth to more than 40 times their actual size on a full color screen display. By zooming in on problem areas in affecting the teeth, dentists are capable of seeing much more than they could with the human eye alone. Often, dentists find the beginnings of periodontal disease or tooth decay that would have otherwise gone undetected if examined without the intraoral camera.

The intraoral camera is not just a diagnostic tool, but it also serves as an educational one too. In the past, dentists have struggled to explain dental decay and other health problems to patients. Most people cannot see well into their own mouths, which leaves dentists to drawing diagrams or using props to attempt to explain what is going on in the mouth of their patients.

Our patients are accustomed to looking at a TV monitor; therefore, they are comfortable, receptive, and relaxed when looking at their photos on a monitor. They are very appreciative of a technology that helps them understand problems they have, and they are very grateful when—at the end of an appointment—they can sit up, view where their treatment started and see the stages that were required to reach an end result that is comfortable and a very close resemblance to nature.

When capturing intraoral images, it helps to have flexibility so you are able to get the specific shot you need for the case at hand. When using the intraoral camera, I’m able to choose from four magnification levels so I can shoot an extraoral patient portrait or smile, or intraorally capture a full arch, a single tooth or even fine detail on a tooth surface.

Many intraoral cameras can do that, but with a combination system I can also switch to a diagnostic setting and in the case of the camera I can use 450 nm blue LED wavelength which makes potential carious lesions stand out from the healthy tooth structure in a way that is easy for not just a clinician but also for a patient to see and understand. With the camera this extra diagnostic capability goes even further with a periodontal screening setting that can provide images to help patients understand the periodontal issues discovered by their hygienists.

These diagnostic capabilities make this type of enhanced intraoral camera a more effective clinical tool, but like all intraoral cameras it still needs to be easy to use with a convenient capture button or foot pedal, plug and play USB connectivity, and imaging software compatibility.