A Qualitative Analysis of Dental Photography in Orthodontics: The Patient’s Perspective

Table 1

Common problems that were likely to affect the patient’s experience and the procedural efficiency.

Several patients showed signs of stress while waiting for the photography procedure to start.	Several patients seemed uneasy when they observed the equipment to be used, particularly the dental mirrors. Some patients verbally expressed their impressions accordingly.	The patients were asked to smile in order to capture photographs of their natural, full-face, smiling expressions. However, many patients failed to provide this simple facial expression due to stress, which resulted in additional shootings and extended the procedure.	The size of the standard equipment did not fit some patients comfortably.
Due to the amount of equipment that required simultaneous use, patients were asked to help with positioning. In certain cases, patients could not understand what they were asked to do, which extended the procedure.	Due to equipment positioning and communication problems, in some cases the technician was required to physically touch and manipulate the patient’s head.	Saliva accumulation was a frequent problem, and was observed in most patients.	During intraoral photography, the clinician used hot water to warm the metal mirrors to prevent fogging due to patient breathing. He determined the safety of the mirror’s temperature using his gloved hand.
The occlusal mirror lodged between the retractors during intraoral occlusal photography of some patients. If that occurred, the patient’s head position changed as the technician withdrew the mirror.	It was observed that patients' intraoral soft tissues hurt during certain stages of the procedure; pain was identified by the patient’s facial expression. One patient also verbally expressed this problem during his procedure.	During the intraoral and extraoral photograph stages, it was observed that the flash bursts from a very close distance hurt some patients' eyes.	The clinician required patients to adopt uncomfortable postures due to the range of equipment he was required to concurrently position and control. He was also required to hold the heavy camera with a ring flash attached with only one hand.