IP International Journal of Periodontology and Implantology 2023;8(1):22–27 Content available at: https://www.ipinnovative.com/open-access-journals IP International Journal of Periodontology and Implantology Journal homepage: https://www.ijpi.in/ Original Research Article A survey based comparative study about dental clinical photography amongst intern and postgraduate students Osama Ahmed 1, *, Anam Pettiwala 2 1 32 Pearls Dental Clinic and Implant Center, Pune, Maharashtra, India 2 Metro Dental Clinic and Implant Center, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 20-03-2023 Accepted 06-04-2023 Available online 22-04-2023 Keywords: Dental photography Dentistry DSLR Diagnosis using photographs ABSTRACT Background: Dental photography is a vital component in the diagnosis and documentation of dental cases. This study aimed to evaluate the familiarity, approach, and practice of dental interns and postgraduate students with respect to dental clinical photography. A total of 250 participants completed a questionnaire, with 78.4% being interns and 21.6% postgraduates. The study found that only 7.3% of participants used a DSLR camera for dental clinical photography, with mobile cameras being the most extensively used device. The high cost of equipment was cited as the primary reason for this. The study also revealed that learning and education needs to be significantly improved in dental clinical photography to ensure better documentation and patient confidentiality. Photography has been widely used in health sciences, including dentistry, to diagnose, document, and record cases. Dental photography is renowned for aiding in clinical diagnosis, similar to the use of x-rays, laboratory workup, or other examinations or tests. However, the use of dental clinical photography varies widely among dental interns and postgraduate students. This study aimed to evaluate their familiarity, approach, and practice in this field. Materials and Methods: A total of 250 participants, including dental interns and postgraduate students, completed a questionnaire about their familiarity, approach, and practice with dental clinical photography. The survey data were collected and analyzed to evaluate the use of different devices, patient consent and confidentiality, and the overall approach of participants towards dental photography. Results: The study found that only 7.3% of participants used a DSLR camera for dental clinical photography, with mobile cameras being the most extensively used device. The high cost of equipment was cited as the primary reason for this. The majority of participants found it essential to document cases for marketing purposes. In terms of maintaining patient consent and confidentiality, informed consent was obtained from the majority of patients before documenting pictures. Additionally, a few of the participants covered their patient’s eyes to avoid breaching confidentiality. Conclusion: The study revealed that learning and education needs to be significantly improved in dental clinical photography to ensure better documentation and patient confidentiality. Dental photography can be made an intriguing subject to record cases efficiently and provide exceptional opportunities for instruction, patient simulation, and recall visits by students. Dental interns and postgraduate students need to be educated on the benefits and correct approach to dental clinical photography. This is an Open Access (OA) journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. For reprints contact: reprint@ipinnovative.com * Corresponding author. E-mail address: osama4december1999@gmail.com (O. Ahmed). 1. Introduction Photography has been utilized in dentistry for a considerable period of time, and is being used for various reasons in https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijpi.2023.005 2581-9836/© 2023 Innovative Publication, All rights reserved. 22