Assessment of gingival change using color photography

Intraoral color photographs were taken during a survey on 140 pupils at a comprehensive school to test the consistency of color transparencies in recording gingival status. The method is described. The results demonstrate that color photographs taken at the time of clinical examination using a simple, standardized technique increase the accuracy and reliability of information recorded. The value of being able to assess, all at the same time, a series of color transparencies taken at the time of the clinical examinations in a longitudinal study, whether it be an epidemiology survey or a clinical trial, will be obvious. The ability to refer constantly to the baseline condition will protect examiners against all the current difficulties of applying criteria to conditions that, by their very nature, have no finite limits. In addition, examiners using photographs will be constantly reminded of their examination standards and will be less likely to depart from them.