Three-camera setup to record simultaneously standardized high-definition video for smile analysis

Introduction Our objective was to develop a photographic setup that would simultaneously capture subjects' smiles from 3 views, both statically and dynamically, and develop a software to crop the produced video clip and slice the frames to study the smile at different stages. Methods Facial images were made of 96 subjects, aged 18 to 28 years, in natural head position using a standardized setup of 3 digital single lens reflex cameras, with a reference sticker (10 × 10 mm) on the forehead of each subject. To test the reproducibility of the setup, 1 operator took 3 images of all subjects on the same day and on 3 different days in a subset of 26 subjects. Results For the same-day observations, correlation coefficients varied between 0.87 and 0.93. For the observations on 3 different days, correlation coefficients were also high. The duplicate measurement error and the mean difference between measurements were small and not significant, pointing to good reliability. Conclusions This new technique to capture standardized high-definition video and still images simultaneously from 3 positions is a reliable and practical tool. The technique is easy to learn and implement in the orthodontic office.