Intraoral Photography

Legacy Project
By: Rachel Richards & Stephanie Jara

+ Why take Intraoral Photographs?

Intraoral photography allows us to see facial harmony of our patients.

Smile esthetics

Imperfections

Comparison with study models

Visible signs of attrition or other habits

Intraoral photographs allow us to carefully study the existing patients

soft-tissue patterns during treatment planning stages.

+ Types of cameras for photos

You do NOT need a big camera to take intraoral photos. A a small digital will work just fine!
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Camera Settings:

For the best quality intraoral

photos, use the flower icon or M
for Manual setting. Either one of
these settings will give you the
close up detail and definition for
capturing the photos.

+ Armamentarium

2) Small Camera

1) Cheek Retractors

3) Mixing Bowl(you can also use a

coffee cup or anything to hold the
warm water to dip the mirrors in)

4) Warm water
(Heat up in microwave
for 1 minute)

5) Occlusal and
6) Buccal Mirrors

+ Photos Needed

+ Pre-Disclosed Photos

+ Post-Disclosed Photos

+ Intra-Oral Photographs
Frontal-In Occlusion

To take intraoral photos, have the patient seated in the

dental chair.

With the operator standing in front of the patient,

place both retractors in the cheeks and have the
patient bite on their back teeth to take the intraoral
center photo.

Whenever possible, minimize the image of the cheek

retractors in the photos.

*Be sure to retract the patients lips sideways and away

from their teeth
* Dont get too close with the camera otherwise it will
cause the photo to be too bright.
The image should capture all teeth on both
sides including the most posterior teeth.

+ Right & Left Buccal Photos

Have the patient hold the retractor

on the left side to keep the lip out of
the way(retractor does not need to
be held tight, its just to get the lip
out of the way).

The operator stand in front and

holds the mirror on the right cheek
in the vestibule and pushes the
mirror laterally away from the teeth
to get a clear view of all teeth.

**Notice in pictures C & D that the mirror is retracted away

*For the left side, do the
opposite of the right.

from the teeth and rotated outward to provide the correct

angle to capture the entire buccal segment.

+ Maxillary Occlusal View

For the maxillary photos use both

retractors and the occlusal mirror.

The cheek retractors should be

placed so the lips can be pulled
upward and downwards.

The cheek retractors will help to

keep the buccal soft tissue and lips
off the teeth.

The mirror should be inserted so

the edge extends behind the most
posterior teeth but so you can see
the anterior teeth as well.

Rotate the mirror down at a 45 degree

angle and have the patient open as wide
as they can.

The midline of the patient should be in

the middle of the mirror and the point of
focus should be the premolars.

+ Mandibular Occlusal View

For this photo, it might work better

to recline the patient slightly.

Have the patient raise their chin

Place the retractors in the patients

lower lip and have the patient hold
them

Insert the mirror so the end rests

on the soft tissue behind the most
posterior teeth, but making sure
not to touch the teeth.

Have the patient relax their tongue and pull it back behind
the mirror as much as they can. (Sometimes the patient can
do this, other times you may have to use the mirror to hold
the tongue back)

Its Important to get the tongue out of the way otherwise it

may prevent you from visualizing all of the mandibular
teeth. To do this, you can ask the patient to lower your
tongue or pull your tongue back

Rotate the mirror upward so the

back of the mirror is resting
against the maxillary incisors(or
almost touching)
The image should be taken at a 45
degree angle to the mirror and
focusing around the premolar
area.

+ Maxillary and Mandibular Lingual Photos

These photos will be taken like the

buccal and occlusal shots except the
retractor will be on the same side(not
opposite side) that your are taking the
picture

ieif you are taking the right lingual

photo, have the retractor on the right
side not the left side.

Place the buccal mirror at the midline for

the maxillary and focus the camera at the
premolars to obtain a full image of the
arch from central to the most posterior
molar.

+ Editing & Cropping..

For both the right and left buccal photos, as well as the maxillary palatal and
mandibular lingual photos you will have to mirror the image to get the right
orientation of the image. On a Mac it might say Flip Horizontal. This option should
be under Tools.
You will also need to crop them so you see only the alveolar ridge and teeth.

Mirror the image

then crop

Right Buccal

Right Mandibular Lingual

+ Editing & Cropping...

For the maxillary and mandibular photos, you man need to Flip Vertically in the
Tools option
Crop them so you can only see the full arch and all teeth.

Flip vertically
then crop

Maxilla

Mandible

Instructional YouTube Video

https://youtu.be/LSAcv1CVsw0
Click on the picture above to go to the youtube video or follow the link...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSAcv1CVsw0&feature=youtu.be