Multifaceted communication applications

Photo documentation is one of the greatest tools a dental laboratory and dentist can embrace. Yes, it’s an obvious tool to communicate a shade, and facial esthetics but it can also help present a narrative enabling both clinical and laboratory partners to understand, question, and explain actions taken by both parties to secure a successful outcome.

To establish value on my side of the chair I track cases using a small photographic area in my lab dedicated solely to documentation. Over 30 years it has grown to become a standardize step in my workflow aiding in reinforcing dialogue concerning challenges, success, failure, and fee rationale.

This photo examples dowel pin reinforcement of abutments.

It also examples that I shell blast the release of clasp arms to avoid distorting them while de-flasking ALL partial denture cases. This prevents the misunderstanding that engagement changed during processing or finishing.

Brings to question why there was a clinical modification of rest area.

This photo also illustrates the clinical modification of the clasp rest area which occurred clinically during frame try-in. Since there was nothing in opposition evident from the mounting photo, it allows me to question the clinical rationale for the modification, a valuable piece of information when a laboratory is asked to later warranty their products with remakes. It also helps me to emphasize that if there was a prosthesis in opposition and a model illustrating that, there would have been a frame design during fabrication to accommodate such.

To emphasize, when deciding on using photographic documentation of cases in your lab, consider the many occasions when a simple photo could have eliminated confusion or aided in communication of a situation that could become contentious with words alone.

This is just another example of the types of things I can present to laboratories who contract my consulting services.

Matrix Dental Laboratory and Consulting 630-531-8197 / zaleske@gmail.com