Clear Idea #4

4 www.acasociety.com | info@acasociety.com C linical photography has long been a staple of clinical practice, particularly orthodontics and fixed prosthodontics. As time goes, photography has become more prevalent, useful and diagnostic. As technology advanced, so too did the quality, speed and ease of our photos. The vast majority of the advancements, however, have been related to camera, lighting or filters. However, excellent clinic photography (and particularly intraoral) is not dependent on one element but instead a combination of multiple factors – camera, lighting, good retraction and high quality mirrors. Reasons for good dental photography: Record keeping – Good pre and postoperative photos give the best visual record of any treatment done. Case reflection – Taking before and after photographs and analysing them will improve the standard and predictability of your dentistry. Laboratory/third party orthodontic communication – Sending orthodontic series photos to your third party orthodontic lab is often a compulsory aspect of your prescription. Marketing – This is becoming more and more relevant with social media and websites. Patient education – Showing patients pictures of their teeth if a great way to visually improve case acceptance and treatment motivation by increasing emotional connection. Medico legal purposes – This is especially the case when doing any aesthetic or cosmetic dentistry. The scope of this review will focus on mirrors, particularly focused on a general dentist or orthodontic practice. Those who take enough photos know that the main challenges we have with mirrors is: 1. Fogging / water droplets on mirror surfaces obscuring view 2. Scratches on the surface of the mirror 3. Staff incidentally breaking the mirror With that in mind, I wanted to review the Jakobi Dental “Mist Free Mirror”. This mirror is marketed as a mist-free solution and comes in a simple yet comprehensive kit including mirror holder (demister unit), battery and charger (USB), mirror tray and 4 included stainless steel mirrors (2 Occlusal, 2 Buccal). The mirrors are stabilised using a screw at the back of the Demister unit and can be changed over by loosening the screw and putting a different mirror in. The unit has three simple buttons – On, Plus and Minus and 5 yellow LED dots (which indicates strength of fan). The unit also has two LED lights directed to the mirror to improve visibility. surface of the mirror did scratch easier, so be careful with this. Battery life: we have now been using it for a year, but find the battery life very good – and also has an LED light indicator as to the level of charge. Additionally, the battery pack can be changed and bought separately if and when the battery no longer keeps charge well. Mirror shapes: The four included mirrors cover most types and needs. The occlusal mirrors (one smaller and one larger) fit well for the majority of patients we used it on. Our practice has moved to, and get excellent results with, “V” shaped side cheek retractors, whichmeans we find the buccal mirrors relatively redundant. Unit: The unit is quite well designed, and a particularly clever aspect is the long handle allows someone to hold it without getting their fingers in the photo. Similarly, simply having the handle means the patient can very comfortably hold it and hence the need for a second assistant or patient coaching is reduced. The buttons are high up on the unit and quite firm to press. This makes adjusting speed of fan while in the patients mouth harder. The mirror stabilising screw can be better designed. Price: The unit is sold through Osseo dental and RRP is approximately $1495 + GST All things considering, the Jakobi “mist free” mirror is a welcome addition to the practice. It is convenient and does exactly as it says it does – and that is fog-free, high quality images with an easy to hold handle. Although the unit is definitely an improvement on traditional mirrors, it doesn’t quite make us want to actively change over all of our mirrors in the practice. However, it will be seriously considered as the older mirrors need to be replaced. With that noted, it is the authors opinion that we will soon see intra-oral scanners will stitch HQ images together to replace ‘photography’ – both in terms of quality and usefulness. Please note: the society and author of this review are not sponsored or financially rewarded for this review. The author was sent a Jakobi Mirror Demister Professional Pack to trial. The review expresses the indepedent opinion of the author. Readers are encouraged to do their own research and consider their own needs prior to purchasing any products Product Review: Jakobi Mist-Free Mirror Review by Dr George Abdelmalek EFFECTIVENESS PRICE EASE OF USE Quality of the photos: The device does exactly as it says it would, and that is, when the mirror is placed in the patient’s mouth – the initial fog is dispersed quickly and efficientlywithin seconds. Themirrors are clear and light-weight, but do seem to get fingerprints easily. A good benefit of stainless steel mirrors means they are a lot harder to break compared to glass, which if this was an issue in your practice – is a welcome benefit. We did find that the