Patent ID: 7106958

Claim:
An intra-oral camera for producing a picture of an intra-oral object wherein the intra-oral object may include a tooth of a dental patient, the intra-oral camera comprising: a camera ( 44 ) operable to take a picture of the intra-oral object once the camera has been oriented in a proper picture taking position relative to the intra-oral object, the camera being operable to capture sight information relating to the intra-oral object; a pinpoint light source for irradiating the intra-oral object with a pinpoint light beam, the pinpoint light source comprising at least one laser diode that projects a light point onto the tooth of the dental patient and the camera ( 44 ) provides sight information relating to the light properties of the light coming from the intra-oral object in response to the irradiation thereof by the light point projected on the intra-oral object by the laser diode; and indicating means ( 26 ) operable to evaluate sight information relating to the light property of one of the laser diodes and to indicate that the camera ( 44 ) has substantially assumed the proper picture taking position relative to the intra-oral object as soon as the camera has either been focused or has been properly aimed, the indicating means ( 26 ) being operable to subdivide a selected selectively cropped camera frame portion relating to the sight information into subdivisions and to evaluate a raster formed by such subdivisions by comparing the light properties of various fields of the raster and thereby determine whether the camera ( 44 ) has substantially assumed the proper picture taking position relative to the intra-oral object.