Taking photos of the inside of your child’s mouth

Follow the steps to take these photos before your virtual dental appointment.

To prepare for your child’s virtual dental appointment we ask that you take photos of the inside of your child’s mouth. We may ask you to submit the photos to our staff to help us decide the dental care your child may need. These photos are also called intra-oral pictures.

What you will need

2 small plastic or metal spoons
A mobile phone with a camera
A second person who can help you
A bright area, preferably near a window to use natural light

Before taking the photos

You will need to pull your child’s cheeks and lips away from their teeth with the spoons. This allows us to see your child’s teeth better. Take care to make sure the photo is in focus. It may help to use your cell phone flash.
Ask your child to swallow to clear any saliva from around their teeth to improve visibility.

Taking the photos

Take photos of any specific areas of concern that you would like us to look at.
Then take these additional photos:

Front view

Have your child bite down naturally with their front teeth almost touching.
Have them face forward into the camera.
Try to get as many teeth as you can in the photo.
Pull their lips and cheeks away from their teeth using the spoons to show more teeth and gums.
Have them make an “eeeee” sound to help show more teeth.

Right view

Have your child bite down naturally with their front teeth almost touching.
Face the camera on your child’s right side.
Use a spoon to pull back their cheeks and lips to show all their back teeth and gums on the right side.

Left view

Have your child bite down naturally with their front teeth almost touching.
Face the camera on your child’s left side.
Use a spoon to pull back their cheeks and lips to show all their back teeth and gums on the left side.

Bottom teeth

Have your child open their mouth wide and tilt their chin downwards towards their chest.
Make sure all the bottom teeth are showing.
You can take 2 photos of the bottom right and left teeth if they do not all fit into one photo.
It may help to use a spoon to slightly pull back the cheeks.

Top teeth

Have your child open their mouth wide and lift their chin up as much as you can.
Make sure you can see all the top teeth.
You can take 2 photos of the top right and left teeth if they do not all fit into one photo.
If may help to use a spoon to slightly pull back the cheeks.