Intraoral cameras have incredible technological features. With LED lighting, a head that rotates from 0 to 90 degrees, and powerful magnifying capabilities (some cameras can zoom in up to 100x), your dentist can examine your mouth in extreme detail. This means he or she can make diagnoses more accurately. The office can attach these photos to your health record to make tracking any changes simple.

Early diagnosis allows for earlier and less invasive interventions such as remineralization therapy or a preventive resin restoration. Pairing advanced diagnostics with the ability for patients to visualize their oral health conditions creates an urgency for patients to move forward with these minimally invasive treatments. Early detection creates a powerful call to action for both the dentist and patient alike.

The dental explorer is said to have an accuracy of about 25%, and traditional radiographs have been reported to be about 68% accurate, but the tooth structure has to undergo enough damage for the lesion to become visible and by that time the patient is definitely getting a filling. These traditional lesion detection modalities are simply not capable of spotting small, early pathologies. But new technologies are now available to help clinicians locate and quantify potential problems in the gingival tissues as well as the teeth.

Each feature that benefits the dentist also benefits the patient—maybe even more. Your dentist understands symptoms and conditions thoroughly, but it’s often difficult to explain precisely what is happening in a patient’s mouth using just a mouth mirror, which is small and hard to see, or an x-ray image, which takes time to print and doesn’t display images clearly.

When your dentist uses an intraoral camera during your examination, however, you’re seeing exactly what he or she sees right then. Dentists can display clear, colorful images, allowing them to point out any issues and discuss them with you immediately. You’ll certainly learn a lot about your mouth! And the more you see and understand, the more confident you can be when making treatment decisions.

The intraoral camera makes record keeping a breeze. Because the camera can take pictures of decay or the beginnings of oral health conditions, images can be printed and placed into patient files. Previously, dentists merely attempted to write an explanation of problems found during exams. Now, dentists can accurately track the progress of treatments or problems for years following a visit. Furthermore, patients can receive printed pictures of the conditions the dentist finds, which may be beneficial for filing insurance claims.