NEWS AND ANALYSIS

“Turkey teeth” trend: Leading dental professor issues stark warning over dental tourism dangers

Professor PhilTaylor, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, has issued a stark warning saying dental tourism is having a huge impact on the UK dental sector.

The warning comes following a surge in patients experiencing painful and botched outcomes as a result of the “Turkey teeth trend”, where people travel abroad for cheap, invasive dental treatment.

“Some people have erroneously turned to travelling to places around the world for cosmetic dental treatment, attracted by slick advertising showing supposedly massive savings on UK prices, however, this continues to have serious ongoing consequences,” said Taylor.

“There are increasing numbers of patients who have had dental work undertaken overseas who are left in long-term pain, both from their teeth and financially, when they have to repair the damage caused.”

He said that the types of procedures being carried out can often result in “overtreatment,” which ranges from offering unnecessary treatment, to grinding down perfectly good teeth that could have been improved with much simpler, less invasive treatments.

Popular tooth tourism treatments include veneers, crowns and implants. These treatments can be very invasive, and often involve the natural tooth being filed down to fangs or stubs before a tooth cap is glued on top, or an implant is drilled in.

Backing up Taylor’s concerns, a recent report by the British Dental Association, showed 86% of UK dentists had treated cases that had developed problems following treatment abroad. But, seeing as a full set of new teeth costs around £2,000 in Turkey, compared to up to £20,000 in the UK, it is proving difficult for dentists to dissuade patients from travelling abroad for dental surgery.

“With dental implant treatment, the failures can be very serious indeed, requiring very advanced surgical interventions to repair the damage that’s been done,” Taylor said. “UK dentists are seeing an increase in this problem and of course, the patient has very little recompense, if any, for the poor treatment.”

Parliament report released on the impact of body image on mental and physical health

MPs are urging the Government to “Regulate non-surgical cosmetic procedures within a year to prevent exploitation”, following the publication of a report by the UK’s Health and Social Care Select Committee titled, “The impact of body image on mental and physical health.”

The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) gave written and oral evidence to the committee in June and called for a range of specific public protection measures to be put in place as soon as possible within the context of the Government’s new proposed licensing system for nonsurgical treatments in England.

The report advises that the Government must accelerate the introduction of a promised licensing regime for nonsurgical cosmetic procedures “to prevent vulnerable people from being exploited” and recommends that dermal fillers should be prescription-only substances.

Importantly, the report identifies a rise in body image dissatisfaction as the driver behind a new and booming market which, for the most part, has been largely unregulated. The dangers posed by non-surgical cosmetic procedures in vulnerable groups were evident throughout the inquiry, say MPs.

The inquiry team also noted that the Government has new powers to introduce a licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic procedures. However, a consultation on what that should look like is still in the works.

The team also remarked that legislation should require online commercial content to carry a logo to identify body images that have been digitally altered and urged the Government to work with the industry and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to discourage advertisers and influencers from doctoring their images.

“The government must act urgently to end the situation where anyone can carry out non-surgical cosmetic procedures, regardless of training or qualifications.

We heard of some distressing experiences – aconveyor belt approach with procedures carried out with no questions asked, procedures that have gone wrong, the use of filthy premises,” said Health and Social Care Committee chair Jeremy Hunt.

“It was clear throughout our inquiry that some groups are particularly vulnerable to exploitation in this growing market that has gone largely unregulated. We need a timetable now for a licensing regime with patient safety at its centre to reduce those risks.

We hope that ministers will listen to our recommendations and set about creating the safety standards that anyone seeking treatment has a right to expect.”

Weight gain and bleeding top menopause concerns

New data has found that the most searched for concern relating to menopause is weight gain, amassing over 308,000 annual searches.

The research by Clarins Beauty Daily analysed Google data to find out what UK women are searching for the most when it comes to menopause concerns and how this can best inform beauty, wellness and health brands as the majority feel underrepresented by the industry.

Post-menopause bleeding was the second most common concern, with a total of 244,320 searches – suggesting that there needs to be more awareness surrounding this. Joint pain was the third most searched for symptom with 143,520 searches.

When looking at what symptoms Brits are searching for on Google from the NHS specifically, ‘menopause weight gain NHS’ leads the way with 7,080 yearly searches, followed by acne NHS-related searches at 5,880. Other common NHS searches include a sore clitoris area (5,760), hair loss (4,800) and itchy skin (3,840).

In terms of remedies to alleviate symptoms, Brits are searching for the best menopause supplements a total of 165,240 times a year, with ‘best lubricant’ menopause-related queries following behind at 41,040 searches and menopausal skincare remedies (such as moisturisers and face creams) being searched 17,520 times.

Specialist menopause nutritionist Emma Bardwell states, “With the correct evidence-based information, menopause can be a time of immense growth. However, many women are suffering debilitating symptoms. The more we talk and share and join the dots, the better able we are to navigate this remarkable transition.”

Foundation will support LGBTQ+ patients seeking aesthetic and wellbeing services

Dr Vincent Wong and Dr Sunni Patel have joined forces to set up a new non-profit foundation – the #IAMME Living Foundation – to promote the needs of LGBTQ+ patients from both an aesthetic and wellbeing perspective.

The foundation, which will officially launch in September, will work to raise awareness of the challenges the LGBTQ+ community face, including discrimination, bullying and body and gender dysphoria, as well as to support the community holistically with gut health, mental health and non-surgical facial aesthetics. This will include providing access to facial masculinisation and feminisation procedures.

Dr Wong said, “As a cosmetic doctor, I truly believe that there is scope to elevate the industry beyond anti-ageing and prejuvenation indications. For me, facial aesthetics is about matching someone’s outer appearance to how they feel and identify themselves on the inside, regardless of age, gender, sexuality and skin colour.”

BAD issues statement on sharing so-called ‘monkeypox’ pictures online

The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) has issued a statement following instances of pictures being shared online of people with skin conditions, alongside what it describes as “thoughtless monkeypox speculation”.

Dr Mabs Chowdhury, president of the BAD, said, “It is concerning to see pictures of people with rashes or skin conditions go viral due to thoughtless speculation about monkeypox. It adds to the stigma around the disease, which is enormously unhelpful as it can also add to the psychological burden of people living with a visible skin condition.

“It is important for people with skin conditions to be able to go about their life normally, without fear of being publicly shamed. As dermatologists, our message to patients is to not let their condition stop them from doing the things that they love.

“It’s simple: don’t take pictures of people with visible skin conditions in public, don’t speculate about their health, and don’t contribute to the stigma around monkeypox specifically and rashes more generally.”

Ice-slurry injection proves effective in body sculpting trial

Results from a study published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine (LSM) have affirmed the efficacy of cryolipolysis with injectable ice-slurry as a customisable method of body sculpting.

The study, led by Dr Lilit Garibyan, and Dr Peiyun, used modeling to determine the dosimetry for injectable ice-slurry treatments and demonstrated the important role that the physical properties of the slurry and the composition of target adipose tissue can play in treatment outcomes.

“We had already demonstrated that iceslurry injection is a novel method for efficient and effective subcutaneous adipose tissue reduction,” said Garibyan, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and co-inventor of the injectable ice-slurry technology.

“We undertook the current study to betterunderstand the heat exchange and phase changes that occur after ice-slurry injection into subcutaneous tissue. This work is important as it helps determine the important parameters of ice-slurry and adipose tissue that influence the amount of fat reduction with this treatment,” Garibyan continued.

Recent publication reports the efficacy and safety of letibotulinumtoxinA in the treatment of glabellar lines

Results from a recent study into the safety and efficacy of letibotulinumtoxinA, a newlyregistered neuromodulator for the treatment of glabellar lines in Europe, have been published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal. 1

According to the publication, the response rate for letibotulinumtoxinA subjects reached 94 % four weeks after injection, with a treatment duration of four months. Median time to onset for the toxin was three days, with almost one out of four patients reporting a ≥ 1-point reduction in the Fitzpatrick Winkle and Elastosis Scale (FWS) already within the first 24 hours after injection.

LetibotulinumtoxinA was also shown to be effective in severe glabellar line and was well-tolerated with a low incidence of treatmentemergent adverse events. The study also demonstrated consistent efficacy and safety of letibotulinumtoxinA with repeated injections for up to 12 months.

1. Mueller DS, Prinz V, Adelglass J, Cox SE, Gold M, Kaufman-Janette J et al. Efficacy and Safety of Letibotulinum Toxin A in the Treatment of Glabellar Lines: A Randomized, Double-blind, Multicenter, Placebo-controlled Phase 3 Study. Aesthet Surg J. 2022; 42(6): 677- 88

Course launches to transform the aesthetics industry’s before and after shots

Professional photographer, Clint Singh, founder of Clinical PhotoPro has launched a new course to teach aesthetic practitioners how to take “bulletproof” before and after photos.

The course, “Clinical Photography for Aesthetics with Mobile Devices,” aims to teach delegates how to produce standardised images to document their patients using just their smartphone or tablet devices. According to Singh, the course is the first of its kind.

The one-hour webinar is taught by Singh himself and is CPD accredited through The CPD Certification Service (CPDUK).

“A lack of standardisation and guidance is the reason we have such poor quality and inconsistent before and afters in the industry,” said Singh in a press release.

“Practitioners do their best to capture images with their smart devices, but more often than not, these images are of poor quality and are not a true reflection of their work.

This course aims to remedy this problem by teaching delegates what standardisation is needed for your clinic photography and how to get studio quality images using your mobile phones and tablets.”

Satisfaction after breast reconstruction varies based on quality of life (QoL) ratings

Women’s perceptions of their breasts postreconstructive surgery vary widely and are linked to differences in key areas of quality of life (QoL), according to a study in the July issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

In the study, 147 women rated their aesthetic outcomes after breast reconstruction using a validated questionnaire (BREAST-Q), which also assessed QoL factors in several domains.

The patients’ ratings were compared to independent ratings by a panel of thirdparty observers (including plastic surgeons and final-year medical students) based on post-reconstruction photographs using a standard assessment (the Validated Breast Aesthetic Scale, or VBRAS).

For 63% of women, satisfaction with their aesthetic results aligned with the independent ratings. However, 19% of women rated their aesthetic outcomes lower than the third-party observers – for this group, the median score for satisfaction with breasts was three on a five-point scale. The remaining 18% of women rated their results higher than the independent raters (median score was four points out of five).

When the researchers looked at other BREAST-Q responses, the disparities in aesthetic ratings were related to scores for several areas of QoL. The mismatches were related not only to the appearance of the breast, but also to satisfaction with the abdomen and overall outcome.

In contrast, the incongruous ratings were unrelated to patient factors such as age or body mass index, or to clinical factors, such as the type and timing of breast reconstruction or the use of adjuvant treatments (chemotherapy and/or radiation) in addition to mastectomy.

The non-invasive “tweakments” behind the most insurance claims revealed

Figures from insurer Zurich UK reveal that eyebrow tinting and microblading account for almost two-fifths (37%) of salon injuries. Laser treatments caused the most serious injuries, with average claims of £6,600.

Both microblading and tinting can trigger allergic reactions resulting in redness, swelling, and even difficulties breathing. Zurich is urging salons and clinics to insist on patch-testing prior to any treatments to help detect potential adverse skin reactions and prevent injuries.

Clare Mitchell, Zurich’s head of Public Liability Claims, said: “ While allergic reactions are rare, consumers should be aware of the potential complications and how they can be avoided.

A patch-test is the best way of checking whether you might be allergic to a product before using it. Even if you’re in a rush, passing on a patch-test is not worth the potential consequences.”

Top surgeon makes the cut as a musician on a mission to combat gun violence

A top US plastic surgeon is using his musical talents to raise awareness around gun violence and mass shootings. Dr Richard Westreich’s band, Big Rich Energy, is currently touring, making limited stops across New York City to bring awareness to deaths caused by gun violence.

He wrote his latest song, “What’s It Gonna Take?” after the recent mass shooting in Philadelphia. All of the band’s proceeds go to charities that support local artists and music education.