Intraoral cameras are tiny digital cameras that fit comfortably in your mouth and enable the dentist to show the patient an enlarged image of an individual tooth or an entire smile on a computer screen. The camera is located in the tip of the intraoral wand and transmits real-time video for the patient and dentist to review. The wand is covered with a disposable plastic sheath, similar to an electronic thermometer, to keep the procedure sterile and comfortable.
The intraoral camera with screen is a powerful tool for the dentist. However, not much is written about it, especially as it pertains to Cosmetic Dentistry. It is often difficult to get a clear picture of your oral health. Who can really see into their own mouths properly? Even with special lights and mirrors, a dentist may only get a shadowed view of the details of a person’s teeth. However, with the touch of a tiny, pen shaped instrument, both the patient and the dentist see an enlargement of every detail in the mouth without effort, pain or handheld dental x ray unit as it appears on a computer monitor screen. The technology of intraoral cameras is one of the most important and useful tools to incorporate into the dental office. These cameras originally where stand-alone pieces of equipment that required their own software with cumbersome bridge links to any dental office management software. The help manuals at that time, which you needed frequently, were written for computer programers, not for dentists and dental office personnel. However, the major dental office management software packages on the market today all have the intraoral camera option incorporated into their software, which makes them very easy to use and relatively trouble free. We have found them to be a really important adjunct for our Cosmetic Dentistry. Patients can easily visualize what you are recommending be done to change their smiles with the various Cosmetic Dental procedures, as you show them on the monitor screen.
Not only does this allow observation of what is really happening inside the mouth, but it also allows the documentation of anything that is seen. Any photos are uploaded to a computer.
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