In dentistry, there will typically be 4 “types” of pictures that you will take, regardless of the purposes for which you take them. They are:
- The Full Face/Portrait
- Full Smile/Retracted Smile or Full Arch
- Quadrant
- Single-tooth (not very often except for endo)
When shooting each of these, I have found that there are certain “positions” of the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens that approximate these consistently and easily. Remember: DO NOT HAVE EITHER YOUR LENS OR CAMERA ON AUTO; BOTH SHOULD BE ON MANUAL AND MANUAL FOCUS. To make it nice and easy, check out these pictures, then download the “Cheat Sheet” for use in your office.
For a FULL FACE/PORTRAIT, position the lens like this:
For a FULL/RETRACTED SMILE and FULL ARCH:
For a QUADRANT or 1:2 Picture:
For a SINGLE-TOOTH:
I’ll soon have an equivalent set of pictures for the Canon 60mm f/2.8 macro lens, and eventually for Nikon and Sigma lenses.