How important is photography when going to the dentist for you?

dont call me betty: How important is photography when going to the dentist for you?
thanks for asking!

i never really cared about it, but lately since my old dentist Attila retired to smoke more ciggerettes i have interviewed a few dentists,

their photography is terrible – they only shoot jpegs!! on P mode!!

help!

Answers and Views:

Answer by Kandasamy
i think it looks like the relation ship between a clean shaved head and the knee!

Answer by AGK
Well I haven’t seen Sam around for a while but he seems a pretty decent photographer/dentist. You could try interviewing with him. I’m sure show you the RAWs from his D300 if you insist all shot in M. I believe he may even buy or already own one of those cool photographers jacket thingies with all the pockets.

You shouldn’t worry too much about your dentist using P though. P is for professional. Atleast he isn’t asking you about the scene mode for shooting mouths .

Also be grateful your dentist isn’t using a Leica M9 like mine. He wanted to take close-ups of my molars but ended up shooting up my nose. I did try to explain about rangefinders, parallax and macro, but he just wouldn’t listen.

Answer by Picture Taker
AGK, this is me.

The color rendition is not accurate enough to use a photo as an exact guide to the lab for shade matching. We have to take a snap of the stock shade guide next to the tooth in question and then only use it as a reference. “The shade is just a bit lighter than the C1 guide.” When the technician has your photo in hand showing the C1 guide and the tooth in question, he can tell how MUCH lighter it is. Here’s a sample of what I might send to the lab for a difficult color match:

I have started using RAW with a WhiBal card to get as close as I can to the accurate color rendition.

A photo is helpful in showing variations and characterizations on a tooth.

It is not so helpful in showing translucent areas, as the flash washes them out. When you bounce light off of the surface, it’s not so easy to see THROUGH that surface.

I usually use “A” for intraoral photography. I set the aperture to f/11 or f/16 and the camera will select 1/60 as I am using flash anyhow.

I send a print copy to the lab with the case and I also send it via e-mail so that can look at it on the monitor.

I also use photography to make copies of x-rays for specialists and insurance companies. You’ll see some examples here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/tags/dental/

From the patient’s point of view, they probably think it does not matter, because they do not realize what goes on behind the scenes. When we choose a shade for a tooth, it’s not the same as just making a match and telling the lab what the Pantone color is. There are many colors within the body of a tooth and the way that one blends to another is an essential bit of the description. A picture is worth at least a thousand words here.

On a completely different wavelength, photography is important to my patients because I have decorated my office with about 30 or 40 of my own prints and I hope it makes the place more cheerful and interesting. I have a spots where I swap out photos from time-to-time and people DO notice, so I guess they appreciate what they are looking at.

Answer by deep blue2
“photography is terrible – they only shoot jpegs!! on P mode!!”

Sounds like they went to the Ken Rockwell School of Photography, lol!