Authors : Osama Ahmed, Anam Pettiwala
DOI : 10.18231/j.ijpi.2023.005
Volume : 8
Issue : 1
Year : 2023
Page No : 22-27
Background: Dental photography is a vital component in the diagnosis and documentation of dental cases. This study aimed to evaluate the familiarity, approach, and practice of dental interns and postgraduate students with respect to dental clinical photography. A total of 250 participants completed a questionnaire, with 78.4% being interns and 21.6% postgraduates. The study found that only 7.3% of participants used a DSLR camera for dental clinical photography, with mobile cameras being the most extensively used device. The high cost of equipment was cited as the primary reason for this. The study also revealed that learning and education needs to be significantly improved in dental clinical photography to ensure better documentation and patient confidentiality.
Photography has been widely used in health sciences, including dentistry, to diagnose, document, and record cases. Dental photography is renowned for aiding in clinical diagnosis, similar to the use of x-rays, laboratory workup, or other examinations or tests. However, the use of dental clinical photography varies widely among dental interns and postgraduate students. This study aimed to evaluate their familiarity, approach, and practice in this field.
Materials and Methods: A total of 250 participants, including dental interns and postgraduate students, completed a questionnaire about their familiarity, approach, and practice with dental clinical photography. The survey data were collected and analyzed to evaluate the use of different devices, patient consent and confidentiality, and the overall approach of participants towards dental photography.
Results: The study found that only 7.3% of participants used a DSLR camera for dental clinical photography, with mobile cameras being the most extensively used device. The high cost of equipment was cited as the primary reason for this. The majority of participants found it essential to document cases for marketing purposes. In terms of maintaining patient consent and confidentiality, informed consent was obtained from the majority of patients before documenting pictures. Additionally, a few of the participants covered their patient’s eyes to avoid breaching confidentiality.
Conclusion: The study revealed that learning and education needs to be significantly improved in dental clinical photography to ensure better documentation and patient confidentiality. Dental photography can be made an intriguing subject to record cases efficiently and provide exceptional opportunities for instruction, patient simulation, and recall visits by students. Dental interns and postgraduate students need to be educated on the benefits and correct approach to dental clinical photography.
Keywords: Dental photography, Dentistry, DSLR, Diagnosis using photographs