Digital photography & patient communication

In today’s world, when dental patients are increasingly savvy about dental care, but also increasingly worried that they’re being taken advantage of, developing the critical trust between a patient and our team is occasionally difficult.  This is where the power of digital photography is so evident, and why I recently wrote about it on my photography blog (http://cdpayetphotography.wordpress.com), because communication is so much easier, and trust is so much easier to establish when you – the patient – see everything that we see.  That’s one of the reasons that we document our work so extensively with Canon Digital Rebel XTi’s.  Of course, the other reason we do is because we are proud of our work and love to show off what we can do to serve you and help you keep your teeth for your life.  🙂

Yesterday was a perfect example (although this patient has been with us for some time and we’ve already established that trust, plus she was having some pain).  This old silver filling had provided many years of use for Mrs. X, but she was having off-and-on soreness and throbbing and wanted it looked at.  When we took the picture and showed her the tooth, it was easy for her to understand why it was bothering her, as well as why we recommended a crown to save it; a root canal may well be needed, too, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for her that she won’t.

Remember my last post about cracked teeth?  Take a look at this tooth — SEVEN CRACKS!  No wonder it was hurting.  It’s almost a miracle that the tooth had not split in 1/2, to be honest.

And this is how the tooth looked after we’d shaped it for a crown (which we’ll make with our CEREC CAD/CAM system); the crack extends well below the gum line and very deep into the tooth from both sides.

If you ever have questions about the treatment that’s being recommended — ask to see pictures.  X-rays are often very inadequate in diagnosing these problems.  The cracks that are so evident here do NOT show up on x-rays; they’re too small.

Digital dental photography — the PATIENT’S friend.

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