Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology

Evaluating the awareness of use, scope and ethics of dental photography in everyday practice among undergraduate dental students.

Photography often represents the best method to collect and preserve evidences. The attention towards the advanced photographic presentation in dentistry has increased significantly over the past several decades. Advancements in technology, computers, the internet and communication systems have greatly affected and shaped modern society. The main purpose of photography in dentistry is the registration of clinical information in the oral cavity. It also finds application for the purposes of dento legal documentation, to improve the learning process, communication and dental marketing. These applications improve the status of the dental practice as well as the quality of work and services.

This is a cross sectional institution based study conducted among 176 undergraduate dental students. 176 undergraduate dental students of 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th year of age group 21–25 years were included in the study. Each student was given a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of a set of 11 questions. Both yes or no and multiple choice questions were present. The answers were tabulated and statistically analyzed.

All the students in the study were found to routinely use dental photography in their regular practice.82% of the students took some form of consent from the patient before taking the photograph and 93% maintained the confidentiality if the patient in social forums, Presentations and research publications. 62% of the participants are aware of a course called dental photography and 34% have already attended a course in dental photography.

Combining a passion for photography with a dedication to dentistry will help us to successfully record patients cases and have a better proposition in teaching, motivation, treatment and follow up.