Born out of a need for better and more accurate images of dentistry, Dental Stock Photos was founded by Dr Roslyn Franklin. She’s now partnered with ADAWA to provide great dental images at a reduced price to our members.
If you’ve ever looked for a stock photo for your practice website or a presentation only to be confronted with cheesy and inaccurate dental images, then you’re going to be impressed with Dental Stock Photos.
Dentist, infection prevention control consultant, and Dental Stock Photos director, Dr Roslyn Franklin, says the idea was born out of frustration.
“In mid-2020 I was asked by Ansell Healthcare to do a webinar presentation on infection control challenges when reopening dental practices,” she recalls. “They asked me to make the webinar suitable for a global audience and said they would purchase any imagery for me.
“I could not find a single stock image that was suitable. Every single photo I rejected for a reason. It was either, ‘No – we don’t sit that way’ or ‘No – we don’t hold instruments that way,’ or ‘No, we don’t wear PPE that way.’ I decided it was time for me to do something about it.”
Roslyn approached a photographer friend, Tanita Seton, and suggested they take some accurate dental photos to sell to Shutterstock, but Tanita encouraged Roslyn to start her own website instead.
After getting a quote for a website, Roslyn commissioned Tanita to take 1,000 images to get the catalogue up and running. The Dental Stock Photos website was launched in November 2020.
Anyone who knows Roslyn will know how meticulous she is when it comes to infection control, so she painstakingly takes the time to ensure that every shot is accurate.
“I storyboard all the shots,” she explains. “I try to find a shot similar to what I want to do and put it in my storyboard so I can say: ‘This is what I want the angle to be and the type of shot that I want.’
“We’ll then also do variations, so in one shot a dentist might be wearing blue PEE, with another shot they might swap their surgical mask for an N95, or we get the patient to change to a different-coloured top to give extra options.”
The launch of Dental Stock Photos was initially slow, as Roslyn discovered the website wasn’t user-friendly, so she spent the next year refining the website and getting the word out.
Fast-forward to 2022, and more and more people in the dental industry are discovering the benefit of having access to accurate dental images, with users including ADAWA (for our website relaunch and magazine), Bite Magazine, Ansell and the ADA Federal Branch (who recently finished a one-year subscription and have used the images on their website, in EDMs and for publications, including the ADA Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control). The images of dental procedures are also widely used for presentations, and for marketing for social media and practice websites.
Roslyn has also branched into custom shoots and was recently commissioned by Ansell to show two new gloves being used ‘in action’ in the dental practice.
There are now more than 3,000 photos in the Dental Stock Photos catalogue, with new photos being added every Tuesday. The range is extensive, with collections including children’s dental, dental aerosols, dental equipment, flatlays, dental x-rays, treatments, oral hygiene, PPE and so much more.
For Roslyn, partnering with ADAWA makes sense. “It seems like a good start to partner with ADAWA, having been on Council and seeing similar corporate partnerships in action,” Roslyn says. “Everyone in the WA dental community has been so supportive; I have now photographed in 13 WA practices, and because I have this amazing WA colleague support, some have said I can come in and photograph for free. Others have asked if I would be happy to photograph the staff or some have asked for a hand with their infection control in return for using their practice. I take my own gloves, masks and gowns because I don’t want to use the practice’s resources up,” she says.
Roslyn’s next focus is to get more contributing photographers on board, as she would like to include before and after shots of dental procedures of implants, Invisalign, orthodontics and veneers, for example. She would also like more marketing photos of anything related to teeth, oral health and oral hygiene. “A lot of dentists do their own photography, so I would love to get those images on the website,” she says. “A dentist who would like to contribute photographs would need to get patient permission and I will provide all the model release forms. There is a screening process the photos have to go through, so not every photo would go on the website, but I would love to get the word out. The photographer’s bio will go on the website and include a link to their practice, and they have a chance to earn a commission from the photo, so it’s a win-win for everyone.”
For details about becoming a Dental Stock Photos contributing photographer, go to dentalstockphotos.com/pages/contributing-photographers
As part of the Dental Stock Photos/ADAWA partnership, ADAWA are eligible for a 20% discount off the recommended retail price to purchase photographs. Go to dentalstockphotos.com/pages/adawa
To find out about Dental Stock Photos, go to dentalstockphotos.com
Advertising opportunities are available in the Western Articulator, on the website and across social media.
Contact Shaden on 0452 426 533 or Shaden.Kanaan@adawa.com.au
We welcome clinical articles and good news stories for the Western Articulator and social media.
