First, position your patient’s body in a way that requires no angling or turning of the head or neck. Head turning, which is a common mistake in dental photography, results in tension, stretching and unnatural positioning of the muscles in the neck, face and jaw. This, in turn, leads to photos that not only are less appealing but also show a distorted version of the very facial structures you’re attempting to document.

For close-up shots, the camera should be at a 90-degree angle from the teeth. The lens and the teeth should be perpendicular to one another, whether you’re shooting head-on or from a lateral view. Ensure that the teeth and the camera lens are level and as close to perpendicular as possible, and the resulting images will be free from distortion and will provide excellent documentation of the real-life smile.

When asked to perform a specific action with their teeth such as biting down, patients are inclined to overthink the movement and give you an unnatural or exaggerated version. When taking intraoral photographs, this kind of artificial bite will inaccurately represent the condition or position of the dentition. When shooting intraoral images, keep your eyes open for protrusion of the jaw, stretched smiles, and bites that don’t match natural centric occlusion. Correcting these issues when taking dental photographs is accomplished just as it is during routine dental treatment.

When using photography to document your cases, take pictures at all stages of the treatment process. “Before” images of the patient, shade shots, images of the teeth after preparation, and stump shade can all help our team deliver the restoration that you want.

For best results, ensure that all photos within a case set are taken under similar, consistent conditions. If each stage of the process is shown with similar lighting, angulation and surroundings, it makes it easier to compare differences in the dentition itself and analyze the progression of the treatment process.

Finally, make sure you take plenty of pictures. You can take multiple pictures from the same angle to ensure that you get a shot that you like and that will work for our technicians.