Photographic-assisted diagnosis and treatment planning.

The advent of digital photography allows the practitioner to show the patient the photographs immediately, to co-diagnose, and to work with the patient chairside or in a consult room while showing the patient some simple imaging techniques, such as whitening the teeth, making the teeth look longer, and showing the effects of orthodontics or veneers to get better alignment and other factors of smile design and esthetic dentistry. This article describes recommended digital dental photographic equipment, how to produce the standard series of diagnostic dental photographs, photographic assisted diagnosis and treatment planning including a discussion of anthropometrics and cephalometrics, and digital imaging techniques.