What camera is best for dental photography?

For internal documentation and patient communication, yes. For shade communication on anterior cases sent to the lab, no. iPhone sensors apply computational color processing that cannot be turned off, which means the file you send is not the color the camera captured. For anterior ceramics where shade match drives remake risk, a DSLR or mirrorless body with manual white balance and a cross-polarization filter is the working standard. Posterior crowns and full-arch documentation tolerate phone photography more forgivingly.

For anterior cases, yes. A polarization filter on the lens combined with polarizing film over the flash heads eliminates the specular highlight on enamel, which is what causes shade tabs to read brighter than the prepped tooth in clinical photography. The full kit runs about $80 to $150. On cases sent to Dani Dental with polarized shade photos included, our ceramists call the shade right on the first try at a meaningfully higher rate than non-polarized submissions.

Manual mode, f/22 to f/32 for depth of field across the arch, 1/160 to 1/200 shutter speed, ISO 100 to 200, and manual flash output between 1/4 and 1/8 power depending on working distance. Set white balance to flash (around 5500K) rather than auto. Shoot in RAW so the lab can adjust exposure without destroying color data. These settings hold across Canon, Nikon, and Sony bodies with minor adjustments for sensor differences.