Our patients are experiencing an unprecedented explosion of access to information about their lives as a result of new technology. Whether it is cyberspace, PDA’s, social networking, GPS devices our patients are incorporating mobile and agile technology into every aspect of their lives, including their health care. This backdrop underscores how important it is that the dental profession adapts to meet the demands of this major transformation of technology within our patients’ lives and universally adapt the intraoral camera into our practices. How quickly we in the dental profession can respond to this paradigm shift will determine the public’s understanding of dental health.
The intraoral camera is the single best educational tool and the one most easily understood by patients (Fig. 1). This camera gives patients a dentist’s eye view (Fig. 2) and brings chairside education to a new level because they can see exactly what we see, as well as understand the diagnosis for what we find. In an era where patients have access to massive amounts of information with just the click of a mouse, our patients prefer to co-diagnose dental disease with their dental care providers, to co-evaluate corrective options, and to co-plan their dental treatment.
day in the operatory
Dentists can bring “virtual reality” into their practices by investing in USB 2.0 variable focus intraoral cameras (Fig. 3) into each surgery and include a flat screen monitor as well (Fig. 4). This easily creates a high tech educational centre and entertainment centre. In a world where our patient’s home entertainment systems seem to rival a NASA control room, we must understand that visual education using modern technology is the minimum expectation of our patients and more effective than describing oral problems in abstract verbal terms that patients can neither readily see nor understand.
Ultimately what is more important than new technology is our patients’ dental health. The intraoral camera is modern dentistry’s most powerful diagnostic tool. Minute clinical details that readily escape detection with magnifying loupes become clearly evident when the tooth surface is enlarged a hundredfold on the monitor (Fig. 5). Very early diagnosis of dental disease encourages patients to choose ultracon- servative restorative treatment techniques such as polymer prepping, fissurotomy, micro-abrasion, aerotherapeutics and chemotherapeutics. As a result, patients have a more enjoyable treatment experience which ultimately will have a major impact on caries prevalence.
In order for a patient to fully experience the clinical and educational benefits of the intraoral camera it must be used on a regular basis. Simply put, if you keep the intraoral camera packed away in storage it benefits no one. The intraoral camera creates an unparalleled opportunity to teach patients the principles of maintaining teeth for a lifetime by intercepting problems early and showing patients the wisdom of restoring damaged teeth. That’s why it is important to make the intraoral camera available everyday in the opera-tory for routine use with every patient at every appointment.
Software and intraoral cameras like the ICON from Digital Doc, (El Dorado Hills, CA) have made this technology very affordable (Fig. 6). With one camera in every surgery being used properly, experience tells us using the intraoral camera will take about three minutes per patient and yield 70-100 photos per day. With one camera, members of your staff can show patients’ their full face, save it in a file and then proceed with a simple tour of the mouth showing both healthy dentition and possible problems the patient may be experiencing. The images captured at the dental workstation become an integral part of the patient’s record as they are used for insurance predetermination, laboratory communication, and treatment planning. With this substantial patient benefit, it is difficult to understand why more than half of all North American dentists don’t use their intraoral camera everyday.
By adapting new technology, like the intraoral camera in our surgeries, we educate our patients who are then more active consumers. Educated patients are more motivated in scheduling regular checkups and also opt for comprehensive restorative treatments, and maintain their dental health at home. By using the intraoral camera, patients can see hidden, hard-to-reach areas where food and calculus deposit and how these deposits cause soft and hard tissue damage (Fig. 7). Visually motivated patients are better at routinely power brushing, daily flossing and improving their oral hygiene.
New technology means change. For some practitioners, incorporating the intraoral camera into their routine may be stressful. However, in this fast moving digital world our patients are quickly adapting and they expect their health care professionals to do the same. Patients are experiencing the benefits of technology in so much of their lives and we must meet their demands and provide the best possible dental care. The intraoral camera does this by bringing clinical communication to a new level and creating a heightened sense of patient trust in the dental professional.
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Dr. Kiran Arora teaches part-time at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Dentistry and works in private practice in Markham, ON. Dr. Arora graduated with a distinction in restorative dentistry from Kings College and was admitted to Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honour Society, Gorgas Honour Society, and Gamma Pi Delta Prosthodontic Honour Society upon graduation from the University of Maryland. She can be reached at epdot@rogers.com.
Oral Health welcomes this original article.
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It is important to make the intraoral camera available every for routine use with every patient at every appointment
