Intraoral camera
For anyone who wants to see the problem before agreeing to fix it.
An intraoral camera is a small wand with a lens and a light that photographs the inside of your mouth. The picture goes up on the monitor, so you see the cracked filling yourself instead of hearing it described.
What we use it for.
- Showing you a crack, a chipped filling or a worn edge you cannot see in a mirror.
- Explaining why a tooth needs a crown rather than another filling.
- Recording what a tooth looks like today, so a change is easy to spot next time.
- Sending a picture to your insurance company when a claim needs evidence.
- Checking a spot on a cheek, lip or gum and keeping a photograph of it on file.
From your side of the chair.
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01
No X-ray involved
The camera is a lens and a light, not radiation. It can be used as often as it is useful, on anyone, including during pregnancy.
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Into the mouth
The tip is about the size of a pen and goes in with a fresh cover over it. You hold your mouth open normally; nothing is sharp and nothing pushes on the gum.
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Picture on the screen
Dr. Malik freezes the image when he has what he wants and it appears on the monitor beside you. One tooth fills the screen, so a hairline crack is obvious.
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Talking it through
He points at what he can see and says what it means and how urgent it is. If something can be watched rather than treated now, he tells you that too.
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Kept with your file
The photographs are saved with your records. At your next visit the old picture sits beside the new one, which shows whether anything has moved.
What it costs, and who pays.
There is no separate appointment for this. The camera is used during the exam or the treatment you are already booked for, and the photographs are not billed as a procedure of their own. Where an insurer asks for images before approving a claim, we send them.
Ask for a written estimateIntraoral camera, answered.
Does an intraoral camera hurt?
No. Nothing is drilled, scraped or pushed, and the tip stays clear of your gums. It may feel cool against a cheek, and that is all.
Why take photos if you already take X-rays?
They show different things. An X-ray shows inside the tooth and the bone around it. The camera shows the surface, so a crack, a stain or a lifting filling is visible.
Can I get copies of the photos of my teeth?
Yes. Ask and we send them to you. They also go to a specialist or another dentist if you are being referred on.
Do I have to look at the pictures?
Not if you would rather not. Some people want to see everything and some want the short version. Tell us which you are and we do that.
