Dr. Pia Lieb returns for a second part on the podcast. In this episode, she talks about being obsessed with your craft, and why that extra 10% for patients will take you miles.

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:10)

I love that you, ⁓ I think this is probably what's made you really great. I don't know. I've heard a lot about you. But I think what you do is you make sure that the patients are obsessed with the results and not that Dr. Pia is obsessed. Like you're obsessed with the craftsmanship of what you've done.

You're really talented at that. But like hearing that you let people walk out and go try these on and what is it going to be like before you do it? That to me says that you are so obsessed about the outcome and the result for the patient. And then your job is to make sure you have the most excellent craftsmanship, the best product, the best techniques, the best method to get them the outcome they want. And I think hearing that, I'm just so proud of you. And I'm so grateful to hear that there are clinicians in our industry that

are obsessed about that rather than the reverse. Because I think some people are obsessed about maybe the dollar, maybe about doing these types of cases, but they're not the best at it, or this is what I think that they should look like. You really want to make sure that that patient is like a walking raving fan of you before you even do the work on them. And that I think is very special about you.

Dr Pia (01:17)

Thanks, but you know, I like to say that, you know, like, the thing that people don't understand is I'm technically the Hermes of dentistry because I, it takes a long time to make a Birkin, right? It's all made by hand. So are the veneers, hence why it's so hard to get one. But look, I

Kiera Dent (01:39)

Mm-hmm.

Dr Pia (01:42)

22 years old and it still looks brand new because it's the quality of the craftsmanship you know and I tell all my patients you should get anywhere between 20 and 25 years out of the mirror okay this whole nonsense of five years and ten years that's because they want to redo the case and for you to pay them again if you're doing good quality work the only reason they should be replaced is because you have recession due to old age

Kiera Dent (01:55)

Wow.

Mm-hmm.

Wow. And you don't have any issues with these super, super thin ones popping off.

Dr Pia (02:17)

No, because okay, let me let me explain to you. Let me explain to you physics. Okay. Okay, do you know why they pop off?

Kiera Dent (02:19)

Let's talk about this. I'm so, cause a lot of people haven't popped off and it's so scary. So I'm like, let's talk about this.

You know, this is why I'm asking you. Cause I don't like, feel my guess is that they were not bonded on correctly. And that's my guess. Okay. I'm ready.

Dr Pia (02:28)

Okay.

No, it's, two things. There's two things. That's

one, but that's the second one. Right. But let me explain to you. Do you remember when you were in high school and we went to, ⁓

Kiera Dent (02:37)

Okay.

Dr Pia (02:43)

⁓ chemistry and we had the microscope with the two glass slabs and we were looking for amoebas and all that stuff. Okay, remember how we were all a painting that you know what and we all tried to pry those two glass slabs apart and it never worked? Well that's the same principle with veneers. The thinner they are the stronger they are.

Kiera Dent (02:51)

Yep.

Yeah

Fascinating.

Dr Pia (03:06)

Okay

and I'll tell you why because teeth you know because you're in the business so teeth we all have ligaments right the teeth are hard it's a hard structure the bone is a hard structure so we have the dental ligaments right they're horizontal they're transversal so those are like the shock absorbers that hold the tooth inside the bone socket. Now

Kiera Dent (03:12)

Mm-hmm. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Dr Pia (03:30)

when you're speaking and when you're eating those teeth move microns not visible to the eye but your teeth have mobility just like trees have mobility in the wind right we don't see the trees move unless it's a hundred mile an hour winds but if you have a five mile an hour wind you don't see that tree moving right but it does move

Kiera Dent (03:44)

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr Pia (03:56)

So

when you're doing these 3D print and you're filing like the turkey teeth where you have the little pegs left and the ratio of tooth to porcelain is 50-50 or you're having 60-40 or 70-30 that 3D printed porcelain does not flex.

Kiera Dent (04:05)

Yep.

Makes sense.

Mm-hmm.

Dr Pia (04:23)

but your tooth does. So that's the number one issue why they pop off. The thicker they are, the easier they'll pop off. And the number two reason is the dentist has no idea about occlusion. Because if you have a premature contact or you have lateral excursions or a protrusive, you're going to pop those off like there's no tomorrow.

Kiera Dent (04:23)

True.

Interesting.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes.

Totally. Yeah.

Dr Pia (04:51)

So these are

the basic principles. If you don't know occlusion, you shouldn't be doing dentistry. I'm talking about GPs or it's the holy grail of this profession. Occlusion, occlusion, occlusion.

Kiera Dent (05:03)

And I will tell you as a patient who has the most obnoxious bite, ⁓ there are dentists who do no occlusion and there are dentists who don't because my bite you adjust one teeny tiny little micron and the whole bite gets thrown off and they're like, no care, it should be fine. And I'm like, I can always tell if you're just doing blue paper and you're having me bite chew all around, I know you don't understand occlusion because I'm like, you're never going to get it. I'm going to be, you're dancing all the way around. Like from the patient who has sat there,

four hours upon hours and had to find other dentists because the dentist who thought they could do it truly can't do it. And this isn't me being a jerk. This is me being the patient who has to suffer through a dentist who doesn't understand occlusion. Like what you just said as a patient, ⁓ and like there's some, know, you can have it like completely off and like, yeah, it feels great. And then you have patients like myself that teeny, teeny, teeny tiny. I can feel it. You can't even find it. And I'm like, no, it's off. My bite is not, my teeth are not coming together.

Dr Pia (05:59)

You always know, the patient always knows. They're always right.

Kiera Dent (06:02)

always. And please don't have me laying back.

Please don't have me lay back. Let me sit up. Let me lay back. Let me tell you on both of them, because it's always different. And they're like, no, it's good. And I'm like, it's not. You're not sitting in my mouth.

Dr Pia (06:09)

Yeah!

Because

you most probably have long centric, right? So you have one occlusion when your head is back and you have a different occlusion when your head is forward. Now, if that's the case, you need to check both.

Kiera Dent (06:18)

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

Correct. Thank you. Preach, please, for the patients like myself. These are the pieces. And I don't disagree because when I have seen dentists and they're not checking that and the patients are constantly popping off, I'm like, just maybe check to see how those teeth are hitting in all directions because they will pop.

Dr Pia (06:43)

⁓ but let

me interrupt you for one thing. The other thing that's an issue, okay, if they do it and you're anesthetized, you're not going to get a good read. You always have to call the patient back the next day and check the occlusion again in all the positions when they're not anesthetized because I will guarantee you on my career that it will be off.

Kiera Dent (06:53)

⁓ no, never.

Yep. Yep.

Always. And they're like, no, you can bite when you're numb. And I'm like, I don't even know how I'm biting. I have no clue. I know I'm biting differently. Preach. These are the things and the conversations that I've said. And having somebody like yourself who's so good at this. I mean, you guys, has a referral-based practice. Like people are flying in to see her. I can see why, because how you speak about this is so different. And I think today, one, I hope people are inspired of things to do, things to not do.

different ways to do this. I also love the risk that you took. I love the growth. I love the determination of self of I will be the best. You have the passion. You've got the grit. You've got the tenacity. I have doctors who are great surgeons that are truly incredible at this. I've got doctors that are amazing at occlusion. I've got doctors that are amazing at fillings. There's a doctor and one of his patients said like, have the smoothest fillings in all the land. And he's like, that's really weird. I had him fix a filling that chipped.

And I'm not going to lie, he has the smoothest fillings in all the land. Like I've never felt a feeling as smooth as this man did for me.

Dr Pia (08:12)

That's because he polished it afterwards.

99% don't polish them. You know, I had a colleague, checked, he did a, we put a crown in and I'm like, Joe, can we polish it? He goes, no, you're good to go. I'm like, no, I'm not. He's like, but I polished it. I'm like, okay, there is a porcelain polishing kit that you've got to go red, blue, white.

Kiera Dent (08:18)

I was shocked.

Hahaha

Dr Pia (08:40)

and the white has to be on low rpms and you have to make sure that it's shiny and polished and he's like i don't have the patience for that go do it yourself in the office and i did

Kiera Dent (08:52)

But I think like that even I feel like dentistry you It to me what I'm hearing is a lot of dentists. It sounds like go 90 % of the way But it's like that extra 10 % is what really in my opinion makes a lot of difference for patients It's doing the polishing. It's doing the small finesse like you you're working in such a small space anyway Why not make it absolutely perfect and dr. P? think you really inspired me to even look at myself in my life of where's that extra 10 % that I could really just make a dazzle Where could I really make it shine?

It's not, it doesn't take a lot of time, but it does take intentionality. So as we wrap today, this has been such a fascinating podcast and I've absolutely loved it. And I just appreciate your time. I want you to wrap with, you can do do's, don'ts or a mix of the in between. What should people who are doing cosmetic dentistry from your perspective as truly one of the most expert people I've ever met do in cosmetic dentistry or don't or you're welcome to do a mixture as just a quick wrap rattle of things that you've seen in your career.

Dr Pia (09:48)

Before

we do that, want to talk to you, I think that we should do this again because I want to talk to you about DSOs and private practice.

Kiera Dent (09:56)

Mm, yeah.

That is very fascinating. This is heavy on my mind of all different topics currently in the landscape, which I don't disagree with you.

Dr Pia (10:08)

Yeah, that's things are things are changing and not for the better.

Kiera Dent (10:12)

They are.

Yeah, absolutely. That will be it.

Dr Pia (10:17)

Because I'm a dinosaur

now. I mean, there's very few of us that do handmade work anymore. So getting back to your question. Look, I

Kiera Dent (10:22)

I don't disagree.

Dr Pia (10:30)

cosmetic dentistry you have to be very very very passionate about it and and the key is to leave your ego at the door and try to be the best version of yourself and that means take every course if you're a young dentist or still in dental school take every course that you can take you know look on Instagram and find the people that do the handmade work like myself and you know there's a handful of

that do it and ceramist as well and find the good beautiful work and reach out to everyone like you know everybody can reach out to me you know and ask me like hi how do I do this or how you know how should I go about doing that the thing is you have to be passionate if you're do and what I've told every student of mine in 18 years you're not doing this for the money the money will come you have to do this because you love doing it

Kiera Dent (11:31)

I don't disagree. think, on that note, Dr. Pia, what is the best way for people to follow you? Because I love that you said this and I tell people all the time, the world has shifted. We are in 2025. I'm going to choose a plastic surgeon, a cosmetic dentist, a surgeon based on their Instagram. I'm gonna go look at their photos. I'm gonna go look at their work. We don't live in a world where we are isolated just to our own state anymore. Like people fly across the country to go get the best work done. So.

Dr Pia (11:56)

yeah, mean Instagram,

I get internationals from Instagram. I've gotten Kazakhstan, I've gotten the UK, I've gotten the French, I've gotten so many and they're all Instagram. And I'm like, okay. I'm just Dr. P, I spelled out the D-O-C-T-O-R. P-I-A, my first name.

Kiera Dent (12:06)

How cool is that? So what is your Instagram handle? So people can follow and kind of see what you do.

Dr. Pia,

and I think if you want to see someone, I know you said you're a dinosaur in this, but as we've been chatting, I'm like, this is the doctor that I would fly across the country to go to. This is the one that I would go see. She knows what she's talking about. She's got the finesse, she's got the passion. She's willing to do one veneer. She's the person I'm going to trust to do work on my mouth. And it's how does she get seen? How does she get known? How does she do this? Guys, these are the legends. These are the people. These are people that have just like done what you're wanting to do.

Follow her and also, I don't know if you have heard at the beginning of the podcast, it sounds like Dr. Pia, you're passionate about helping any person who this is their dream become the best in the industry. And that to me is why she...

Dr Pia (12:51)

for sure. For sure. Just DM me if you have any questions.

That's the whole like Instagram is the new portal of learning.

Kiera Dent (13:01)

Mm-hmm.

Dr Pia (13:04)

Just ask questions. mean, it's none of us were born knowing how to do veneers. We all had to learn it at some point. And as long as your ego is at the door and you're willing to learn and be the best version of yourself, then you're great. You're great. But if you think you know it all, I'm still learning. And I've been doing this for decades. I'm still learning. I want to be up to date and things are changing. Materials are changing. There's so many things.

Kiera Dent (13:13)

Right.

Dr Pia (13:34)

Styles are changing. Thank God the Hollywood smile is dying. Finally. This took about 16 years, but thank God it's dying now. It's going back to natural

Kiera Dent (13:34)

Yeah.

No. Right.

which Dr. Pia, people didn't get to hear this. I heard this pre-show. You came on, we were just chatting and you said, I love my career. I love what I do. And to hear that you've been doing it this long and can still say that you love that. That's what my hope and wishes for so many doctors out there is that, and like, yes, we will get you back on the podcast to talk about DSO private practice because I think so many people are like get in, get out real quick. And I think that you are just such a great example of loving your craft, loving what you do.

committing to be the expert and look, you've had this long of a career and you're still obsessed with what you do. And I just want to honor you and say thank you and thank you for inspiring dentists today on the podcast.

Dr Pia (14:24)

Well, thanks for having me. And look, the young generation, the new graduates that are out there, I think we need to tell them the do's and don'ts of DSO.

Kiera Dent (14:36)

Absolutely. So that's a wrap for today with Dr. Pia. We'll have her back on talking about DSOs and new grads and the, I think the perspectives, because right now it's a world of a lot of noise and to find wisdom through that noise is paramount. So Dr. Pia, thanks for being on. Thanks for sharing your cosmetic knowledge. Yeah, I did too. And for all of you listening, I hope you commit to being the best at your craft, to getting hungry. There's a great quote. I'm a BYU football fan ⁓ and their coach says, be hungry.

Dr Pia (14:51)

It was a pleasure, I loved it!

Kiera Dent (15:05)

Stay hungry, stay humble. And I think that that's what Dr. Pia has done. And I hope all of you commit to that. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.