Dental photography

When explaining treatment to patients there are lots of different tools you can use — flip charts, whiteboards, brochures, typodonts, x-rays, wall charts and video to name a few.Over the years I've tried all of these.There is one tool for explaining that stands out, head and shoulders above the others and that is a set of clinical photos of the patient's teeth.But, not just any photos. The ultra close-up photos that dentists prefer are fairly useless because patients simply don't understand them. The type of photos that patients understand are full-arch photos. Patients can put them in context.It's amazing how often a patient will fully understand the need for treatment when they have a set of clinical photos properly shown to them.Taking a basic set of clinical photos takes a minute or less if you do it right. In 2016 resolve to take a set for every single new patient you see without any exceptions.In my seminar, The Art of Case Acceptance, I show how to take and use clinical photos to their best advantage.