Taking pictures of regular films with a digital camera
If your practice currently takes regular dental radiographs, using a digital camera is the simplest method we have found for submitting your images for evaluation. Because dental films are so small, no special equipment is required to submit the films. Many digital cameras costing $200-$400 are acceptable for this purpose.The following guidelines are useful in determining if a camera is acceptable:
1. A minimum of 3 mega pixels (preferably higher)
2. Camera has a black and white mode
3. The focal distance is one inch (2.64 cm) or less while in Macro Mode. This is the most important feature to look for. This close focal distance allows you to fill the entire image with one radiograph. Many of the cameras in the Nikon Coolpix series are known for their close focal distance in the Macro mode.
Best Buy, Fry’s, and Circuit City are excellent places to purchase a camera. Another excellent source for internet reviews is the digital camera resource page found at: http://www.dcresource.com
Steps to taking pictures of radiographs to be reviewed:
Make a “frame” for the different sizes of dental radiographs that you use (generally sizes 0, 2 and 4). This should be a piece of light proof plastic or cardboard the size of your film viewer. A chairside dental film viewer is recommended as it is smaller, brighter, and can be used table-top. Make cut-outs in the frame the size of the films. Note: this will also make film interpretation easier.
Place the radiograph to be photographed in the appropriately sized cut-out on the light box. Make sure that the dimple (dot) on the film is pointing toward the camera. Dental films all have a small dimple that is punched into the film. This creates a bump on the film that is concave on one side and convex on the other. The bump should be sticking up toward the camera in all cases. This is very important to help us confirm where in the mouth the film was taken. Set your camera to black and white mode. Set the camera to macro (close-up) mode, usually designated by a small flower symbol. Make sure the flash is turned off. While in the macro mode, position the camera so that the radiograph takes up the entire frame of the viewfinder. This will maximize the image quality and allow for enlargement for more accurate assessment. Avoid having the image take up only part of the frame or trying to place multiple radiographs in a single picture.
Cameras usually have several choices for image quality. Please choose the best quality available on your camera. Sharp focus is very important. For best results, take several images and choose only THE BEST ONE to send. If the images are blurry, we will not be able to read the films. When you look at the image on your computer screen, you are seeing the same image that we will be evaluating. After taking your images, you will need to connect the camera or memory card to a computer and import the images. When given a choice, we prefer JPEG images for ease of transmission and manipulation. Many image management software programs allow you to choose the file size of each image when you import them from the camera.. We prefer that each image be a minimum file size of 300K to allow good detail.
Be sure to label each digital image as to the patient and quadrant involved. For added protection, you may consider using the patients name on the picture as well. Examples: (Sparky right upper.jpg , Fluffy left lower.jpg , Spike left upper.jpg)
Make the digital images available on the computer connected to the internet. This process may seem cumbersome at first, but rapidly becomes second nature.
To Summarize:
Macro mode and Black and white mode selected.
Choose the best quality available on your camera.
300K minimum file size.
JPEG file size is preferred.
Name the files with the patient name and quadrant in the name.