GAP Australasian-Dentist-Mar Apr 2019

Category 82 AustrAlAsiAn Dentist Myles Holt A s Dental Practitioners in Australia and new Zealand prepare to become among the first in the world to incorporate the latest fat busting therapies into dental practice in 2019; reducing the health and aesthetic impact of excessive fat deposits in double chins, jowls, cheeks and under- eye regions in their patients; the question is no longer, “should practitioners be offering these services”, but rather, “if you’re not, are you failing to deliver a comprehensive service and full scope of practice?” Introduction – Do You have a Problem? With over 5000 Dental Practitioners across Australia and new Zealand having undergone training to incorporate extra- oral facial therapies into their practice, there is now a general acceptance that these skin services fall firmly within the remit of the dental profession. Moreover, it has reached the point where if you’re a Dental Practitioner who fails to examine and consider the skin and other prominent facial structures adjacent to the oral cavity, on each and every patient, you may have a problem. it would be likely that you are falling behind your colleagues and below the standard of modern day Dentistry, as the mouth, teeth and jaws can no longer be treated as if they are isolated from the rest of the face. if you don’t have the tools in your armamentarium to successfully address skin and facial deterioration and ill-health, just as you would the teeth and gums; if you don’t have the training and ability to harmonise the dynamics and aesthetics of the extra-oral with the intra-oral; if you can’t even at least advise a patient as to how they can naturally enhance the health and aesthetics of their lips; then you are arguably failing to fulfil the full scope of modern dental practice. Without doubt, a failure to address the extra-oral facial structures that frame the oral cavity would make it extremely unlikely that you could appropriately diagnose and formulate a comprehensive and holistic treatment plan, let alone obtain truly informed consent for advanced procedures. this is especially true for modern aesthetic cases, given that smile design is now so facially driven. it would be difficult to claim you truly obtained fully informed consent; for procedures ranging from orthodontics and gummy smile, through to tMD and anterior aesthetic cases; without any consideration or discussion having taken place around the impact of and on, the extra-oral facial features and how structures adjacent to the teeth and gums interplay with what is done intra-orally. Considering this, the profession really has reached a point where, as a dental practitioner, you either stick to cleans, root canals and simple restorations, or you understand the entire dento-facial complex and factor all aspects in to your more advanced restorative, orthodontic and aesthetic treatment plans. By simply offering intra-oral dentistry, especially advanced procedures, you run the very real risk of being caught out, failing to provide comprehensive care. Chewing the fat – the concept of double chin reduction in the dental chair By Dr Myles Holt, AADFA Director & Head trainer Honorary lecturer. Kings College, london Dento-legal Advisor lInICal Dentists can no longer treat the teeth and mouth as if it were isolated from the rest of the face. The entire dento-facial complex must be understood, considered and discussed with patients to ensure informed consent and comprehensive care. Before and After targeted injection lipolysis for double chin reduction