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Blog SEO title: Why Every Dentist Should Be Taking Clinical Photos (Even the Bad Ones) Meta description: A dental lab manager makes the case for clinical photography — the five reasons it matters, and why the worst photo is always the one you didn't take. Part 1 of McTech's dental photography series. Primary keyword: why dental photography matters Ebook note: This is Chapter 1 of Through Dental Photography. For the ebook, drop the SEO line above and the "next in the series" box at the bottom; everything else carries over as-is.

I'm Ryan McKee, lab manager at McTech Dental Lab in Billings, Montana, and I’ve become an expert at taking photos that my technicians love. Over the years, photography has slowly become one of the most important things I do. It started with taking photos of our custom shades, which led to researching and procuring information, methods and equipment to more accurately capture color information and dimension. Taking photos of work my technicians were proud to show for marketing had the effect of allowing them to critique themselves on a new level. Seeing their work blown up on a 72” TV at a dental meeting booth, gives a technician plenty of time to think of ways they could improve. Taking smile design before photos gave my technicians another dimension of artistry into their designing. And doing after photos at the lab certainly had the effect of bringing my technicians and I closer to the impact the final outcome has on patients when documenting complex cases. Seeing their work in the mouth accelerated growth in a profound way. Once I started seeing how much photography could affect case outcomes, I knew high quality dental photography was exactly what our patients deserved.

So before we get into lenses and lighting and the settings on your camera, I want to start with the only question that actually matters: why bother?

"The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered"

There's a line from the opening of the Ken Burns documentary The Mayo Clinic quoted from Dr. William J. Mayo, from a 1910 commencement address, that I think about constantly:

"As we men of medicine grow in learning we more justly appreciate our dependence upon each other… The very necessities of the case are driving practitioners into cooperation. The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered, and in order that the sick may have the benefit of advancing knowledge, union of forces is necessary."

Union of forces, that's collaborative dentistry. No single person, not the dentist, not the technician, not the lab, holds the whole picture of a case. A restorative case is a relay, and a photograph is how we hand off the baton without dropping it. I know from experience that if you take a good photo, you're not just sending a file. You're pulling your technician onto your team.

The five reasons to pick up the camera

If a restorative team member where to ask me what clinical photography is for, I’d give them five answers:

  • Collaboration. This is the big one. A photo lets your lab see what your eyes saw. Color, texture, the shape of the tissue, the way light moves across a tooth. It closes the gap between the chair and the bench.
  • Critique and improvement. You can't improve what you can't review. Photos let you and your team look back honestly at what worked and what didn't.
  • Documentation. A clear record of where a case started protects everyone and informs every decision that follows.
  • Education and mentoring. Photos are one important way that knowledge moves between people. My lab, my doctors, their staff and I have accelerated our learning by studying images of real cases.
  • Marketing. A strong before-and-after sells your work better than anything you could say about it, and it does it honestly.

My own purpose as a dental photographer is simpler than all five put together: to benefit the patient by taking photos that inform, inspire, and elevate the outcome. For my technicians, my doctors, and every other member of the restorative team, including the patient themselves.

Practice photography the way you practice dentistry

Here's the mindset I want you to walk away with.

You didn't get better at dentistry by waiting until you felt ready. You got good by doing it, case after case, refining as you went. Photography is no different. Practice dental photography the way you practice dentistry. As a clinical skill you build through repetition, not a hobby you put off until you've bought the perfect gear.

And that means letting go of the fear of taking a bad photo. I know this from experience:

The worst photos are always the ones you don't take, or don't send.

A slightly underexposed shot still tells your lab something. A blurry occlusal still shows us the arch. But the photo that lives only in your memory, or the one you took and then decided wasn't "good enough" to send? That one helps no one. Send it. We'll work with it! In the decades we’ve been a lab we’ve dealt with worse, and less. Take and send the picture, we'll both get better from there.

This isn't a checklist, it's a way of thinking

A quick word on what this series is and isn't.

If you search "dental photography checklist," you'll find hundreds of them, and plenty that contradict each other. I'm not handing you another one. I'm going to teach you the fundamental concepts behind clinical photography so that you can build your own protocol, one that fits your team, your equipment, and your lab. In the process you’ll learn my own protocol built from years of better and better results.

I'm also not going to pretend I know everything about every piece of photography technology ever made. I can only speak to the gear I actually use and the research it took to get the results my lab needs. I'm a cheap perfectionist; I'll even recommend a few things I don't own yet. As I like to say, I'll try to keep it simple, but I'm going to trust that y'all ain't no dummies.

Because at the end of the day, this is about one thing: better information flowing between the chair and the lab, so the patient gets a better result. That's the whole game.

So wherever you are right now, phone in your pocket, dusty DSLR in a drawer, or a full setup you're still figuring out, here's where we start:

Take the photo. Send it. We'll build from there.

Next in the series: The Two Principles Behind Every Useful Dental Photo — Consistency & True-to-Life. Everything from lenses to lighting comes back to these two ideas.

Working with a case right now? Talk to your lab about how they'd like photos submitted — or send it to McTech and let's collaborate. The worst photo is the one you don't send.