Article
App Review: Photo App (Dental Photo)
Dental photography is an important component of the clinical care of patients for any dental clinician. Photographs have a variety of uses including providing a clinical record to sharing your work with colleagues for the purposes of clinical review. A good pictorial record may also be used for patient information leaflets and other presentation formats, including your practice website. Having a reliable source of practical dental photographic information is always welcome and, if it is in a format that is available on your mobile device, then you have that knowledge always available. Therefore, it is pleasing to see Mike Sharland, a well respected dental photographer, producing a mobile phone app that is available on both Apple and Android platforms. Mike has delivered countless postgraduate courses throughout the UK and has also published in traditional paper format, so he is well placed to deliver the information. He delivers sensible practical advice and is also the author of the website http://www.dentalphotographyinpractice.com
The mission statement of this photography app is: ‘Get the images you want, not what the camera wants to give you’
Dental Photo is a dedicated app for the mobile phone and, whilst it may be seen as a little text rich, I must confess that I have enjoyed reading the detail when I have a few moments spare. The great advantage of the app is that you can view it at times that suit you and the information is a great reminder when you are taking clinical photographs. All images are clickable for higher resolution viewing and, as you would expect, are very high quality. The linking and clicks need a little thought as the external link is to the main website and you then have to search further to look through the extensive information that is available. I understand that this is being updated to make the link transition more focused. The details are for both Nikon and Canon cameras. The manual settings for taking clinical pictures with your digital camera are clearly stated. I have seen many clinicians using many different settings but Mike Sharland sets the record straight for reliable clinical photography. You will have to purchase the app or attend one of Mike's courses to see what they are. There are five sections Introduction, Getting Started, Gear, Settings and Technique. The final three sections have further subsections. The gear takes in the camera, lens and flash. There is also a useful section on accessories. The more I use it, the more I like it and I have this as one of my favourite apps on my phone. It has now reached the front screen! I now approach my clinical photography with new enthusiasm and am always eager to see how the tips and tricks outlined in the app make a difference to my photographs. There are a few niggles. Navigation is a little difficult and it is a case of using the back button and then going forward. However, with practice and familiarity, the app starts to open up. However, there is a learning curve. There is no search facility in the app to go to sections that you are interested in quickly. The only way to do this is to become familiar with the app and then remember where each section is. The links to the external website are being updated and this will make it extremely useful.
In summary, this is a nicely priced app that is worth buying. It is packed with lots of useful information that will improve your dental photography. It is useful to have such an app on your phone which means that the information is always at your fingertips. The pictures are good, the advice is sensible and the end result is that your patients and practice portfolio will benefit from the high quality photographs that are produced.
iPad for Dentistry: Digital Communication for the Patient and the Dental
This book is great to look at and has some amazing pictures but the title is all wrong. Surprisingly, iPad for Dentistry is not really about the iPad, it is about showing how a book should look. It is elegant and sophisticated with some great dental photographs. It has a theme of digital dentistry and how to communicate your work to the patient. I am not sure you really need to focus on an iPad for this, but the author thinks so and has engineered the book all around it. The trouble is, most people know how to use an iPad, dental students are using one all the time, so pages on how to swipe and use your finger are not really necessary. I do appreciate that there may be an older population out there who are just coming to terms with new technology, but the readers of this book will most likely be fairly savvy users. However, the pages describing the use of the device do look aesthetically good, so I would keep them in. Sometimes, the artistic licence is too high, with one page only containing a brain, a hand and an iPad. I found it in parts to be just a bit too simplistic. The technology pages do not provide much guidance and I almost stopped reading, but then the quality of the pictures took over. I started to be a page turner and become engrossed with the book. I did not find the WiFi or the photographic equipment pages particularly useful. There are much better photographic technique texts available than those contained in this book. However, I persevered again and the quality of the pictures shone through. The book is fantastic where it concentrates on the physical quality of the pictures and the composition. What it is weak on is the technical aspects, which do not advance knowledge over what is already familiar to a competent iPad user. Much of the information could be found using the Internet on your iPad device. Luckily, the later part of the book does become more and more useful as the true use of the iPad in dentistry is revealed. The book is useful for the dentist as it is useful to plan and determine the clinical outcome, but I'm not sure that it is so good for the patient. However, the patient will appreciate this approach as the treatment is conveyed in an easy to understand manner.
In conclusion, I do like the book and it is worth buying. I just wish it had a different title. Everyone who picks up the book has mentioned the trivial title but, when they look into the content, they, like myself, start to appreciate the quality of the pictures and the ideas behind the treatment planning. Someone commented that the book could have easily been called ‘Writing in Dentistry’. However, I think it should be called ‘How to Use your Digital Photographic Skills Wisely with your Patients’.