Q. Is there any legal obligation to take photographs of the patient’s teeth prior to undertaking bleaching?

Generally speaking, photographs provide an extremely useful record of the clinical situation. Not only do they show the shape, size and position of various teeth, but they also record the patient’s clinical condition, gingival status, oral hygiene etc. What photographs are not good at, however, is reproducing the precise colour of the teeth and therefore they cannot be relied upon for shade matching. Many dentists find it useful to take a photograph of the teeth, prior to undertaking bleaching as it does allow them to produce a ‘before and after’ comparison. This often helps the patient realise just how much the colour of the teeth has improved during the bleaching treatment.

For a more precise colour record you could include the relevant shade guide tab alongside the teeth both before and after treatment to demonstrate that a change in colour has occurred. However, because of the variables in creating and viewing the image, the result should be interpreted with caution.

There is no legal requirement to take a photograph prior to starting a bleaching procedure, but since they can provide a useful addition to the clinical records they are to be encouraged. The photographs should be stored within the clinical record (on paper or in a digital format on the computer) along with details of the patient’s name, date of image and an indication of what it shows (for example, John Doe; pre-bleaching; 17/07/2010).