The Future of Facial Esthetics in Dentistry

Episode #412 with Dr. Louis Malcmacher

Botox is just for wrinkles. Right? Not anymore! It is now mainstream in dentistry, and it will continue to grow. And to help you understand the need for dental Botox, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. Louis Malcmacher, president of the American Academy of Facial Esthetics, to explain the benefits that offering Botox will have for your patients and your practice. For everything you need to know to get started, listen to Episode 412 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Botox has become mainstream in dentistry.

Fillers and Botox are not just wrinkle removers.

Dental Botox can offer orofacial pain relief.

It can also be a treatment to reduce bruxism.

Studies have proven that Botox is safe and effective.

Patients willingly pay for this recurring service.

Quotes:

“You can learn to do anything, clinically, and be good at it. It’s just training, and practice, and practice. That's the old joke. That's why they call it a “practice,” because you're literally practicing your whole life when you're a dentist.” (5:47—6:01)

“Even if you treat 28 teeth with veneers or crowns and implants, they still have great-looking teeth. A great-looking smile is everything around it. It’s the lips, it’s the cheeks, it’s the folds, it’s the skin. That really is everything else.” (12:43—12:58)

“Dentists are the only healthcare professionals that can practice total facial esthetics. Why? Because we don't only control the teeth anymore. We control everything else with Botox, fillers, and PDO threads in the face to lift up sagging skin, to fill in the cheeks, fill in the folds, the perioral area, make all these wrinkles in my face disappear and patients’ faces disappear. That's why we coined the term facial esthetic dentistry, because now dentistry is literally from here to here, and we can control the whole thing.” (15:20—15:56)

“There are now more dentists doing Botox and fillers than there are dermatologists and plastic surgeons, which, total in the U.S., there are only about 15,000 combined of plastic surgeons and dermatologists. There are at least 20,000, if not more, dentists that are doing this at this point in time.” (16:05—16:23)

“That's the thing that dentists really need to wake up to, is always give people what they want. And the number-one most requested esthetic service in the world is Botox. And fillers for volumizing the face is number two. So, that's what your patients want.” (17:26—17:42)

“We’re so ingrained that, ‘Oh my gosh, my patients are so cheap. They will not go ahead and pay for this unless it’s covered by insurance.’ Not with Botox and fillers.” (18:53—19:03)

“If you're thinking about getting into Botox and fillers, ask this one question on your medical history form as a practice filter . . . ‘Have you ever gotten Botox and dermal fillers before?’ Leave a line, or just give them yes or no. And you will not believe how many patients check yes. And these are the same patients, by the way, that have told you that they don't have the money to fix tooth number 19, the lower first molar, because the insurance doesn't pay enough, or they don't want to fix it.” (19:19—19:59)

“Look at the ADA Health Policy Institute. They have great statistics. They literally go week by week as to what's happened in dental offices through the pandemic, even now post-pandemic for that. Now, even post-pandemic, dentists are way behind. During the pandemic, and even last year, 2021, they were way behind. They were still down 20% in terms of patient volume, patients coming in, production. They had to raise their fees. I mean, you raise your fees and you've got lower patient volume, that's typically not a very good mix for all of that. But those dentists that have been doing...