**PLEASE DO NOT SEND PHOTOS UNTIL YOU ARE REQUESTED TO DO SO**

Dr. Stonecypher and his team are systematically contacting all of our patients requesting they send in photos.  If you send photos before you are requested to, it will slow down our system and delay our responses.

Good quality photos will help Dr. Stonecypher review your treatment as thoroughly as possible without seeing you in person.  It is important to understand that the virtual appointment does not replace an in-person visit.  This is a service that Dr. Stonecypher has created to help monitor your progress and give important feedback during this COVID-19 closure.  In-person visits are an essential part of orthodontic treatment, but virtual appointments are the next best option to maintain your treatment progress.

First Steps

1. Wash your hands thoroughly.
2. Remove elastics from your mouth.
3. Brush your teeth before taking photos.

Have a clean pair of dinner forks or soupspoons available to use as cheek retractors.           

How do I take good-quality photos with my smartphone or device?

• Turn on your flash. Use a brightly lit place in your home, like next to a window or in a bathroom with bright vanity lights.  Please avoid direct sunlight for the pictures.
• Take photos from a distance of 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) away from the teeth.
• Keep the phone as steady as possible to reduce motion blur.
• Keep the patient’s head level left-to-right and front-to-back (in other words, have them stand or sit up straight).
• Keep the phone level and perpendicular to the outer surface of the teeth for the best view.
• Please review the photos for proper focus before sending them.
• Please limit your photos submission to 6. Please do not submit more than 6, as this will bog down our system.

Getting the proper bite.

How you bite is very important to orthodontic treatment, and you may recall that Dr. Stonecypher often "wiggles" your jaw into the proper position. To aid getting the correct bite:

• Open your mouth.
• Place the tip of your tongue as far back toward your throat as you can on the roof of your mouth.
• Bite together so that your top and bottom teeth touch. This is very important!
• Take the photos with your bite in this position. Your bite might feel funny in this position - that is OK. Use this position anyway.

What photos are needed?

This will depend on the type of treatment being performed.  In general, a front-biting photo in combination with left- and right-biting photos will be required.  The forks or spoons will be used for cheek retractors (see Retraction videos for important details).

1) Braces

Please take a series of 3 photos.

If you have an expander cemented in, please take an upper open-bite shot:

2) Aligners

Please take a series of 6 photos:
- 3 with the aligners in the mouth
- 3 with the aligners out of the mouth

3) Removable Expanders

Please take the following photos:

• Front-biting photo with the expander in the mouth
• Front-open photo with the expander in the mouth (either upper or lower; both if two expanders are being used)
• Expander outside of the mouth on a white plate