Zoom to 3x
Pinch zoom with your finger to about 3x zoom. This will keep let you zoom on the teeth only without having your phone too close to the mouth.
…with your phone…
You would be surprised how often we get emails from parents asking about something they see in the mouth. Inevitably we ask them to email a picture and inevitably those pictures are not good enough to see what is there.
Cell phones take great intra-oral (tooth) pictures — they have a very small sensor and hence a small aperture to create a deep depth of field (everything stays in focus) and they have the flash very close to the lens. You don’t need an expensive macro photograph rig, but you do need to set up your phone properly.
Here is how to set up your phone to take good intra-oral pictures.
Turn Flash ON
Whether Android or Apple, make sure to turn FLASH ON (not just AUTO FLASH). It has to be ON so that it fires with every shot not just when the phone thinks it's dark.
Use a Timer
Set a timer on your phone for 2-3 seconds. This lets you press the shutter and then have time to make sure the phone is pointed correctly and cheeks and tongue retracted out of the way
Position Phone 8-12 Inches away
This keeps your phone far enough away for the flash to illuminate the teeth but close enough to get good details and depth of field.
This is what you will get
Press the shutter button to start the timer. Make sure the phone is steady and that you are pulling away cheeks/tongue/etc so that the subject of your shot is visible. This image was taken with an iphone.
