How-to Get Your Best Smile Ever (and Mistakes to Avoid!) with Celebrity Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Apa

27:27So let's call it$3 ,000 a year. Yeah. All right. $3 ,000 a year times 15 years. What's that? Uh, four or no. 45 grand. Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. You can get a new smile for 45 grand. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. But, But people don't think of it like that. Yeah. It's like it's it is something that lasts for, you know, 15 good years. Yeah. And it changes your confidence. It changes the way you feel about yourself. And it's it's not a bag. It's not you don't have to wear that bag that day. Your outfit doesn't have to coincide with that bag. You get up. You don't have to put makeup on it. All you got to do is brush your teeth.

28:08And you and you get that. And that to me is the value of having great teeth. Yeah. And also like, I'm just going to say that a couple of years ago, I did have to have a tooth pulled. And that overall, when it was all said and done, was$10 ,000. And it was one tooth. Correct. And if somebody looked at your mouth as a whole long ago, I could almost guarantee that you probably wouldn't have to have that tooth pulled. What happens after 15 years? You replace them.

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30:59if somebody came in and they do have crowded teeth do they need to go away and do invisaligns before they get the veneers or this is going to fix both problems fix both okay there's a savings everyone yeah yeah look don't don't buy the invisalign just go straight to veneers there you go okay thank you for clarifying yeah a lot of celebrities you know some celebrities are Some creators have maybe shared veneer remorse on social media. When does veneer remorse happen? We're using no names on this one, right? That's right. We didn't use any names. Okay. So with no name said, I can, can I? Come on, speak up.

31:43You know what? They have their microphones. Now guess what? I have mine.

31:52that particular veneer remorcer yes who said that you know she wanted to do a certain amount and then she was talked into more so on and so forth is my patient oh and when she came in i explained to her explicitly why she couldn't do these two teeth longer which is what she wanted because her bite did not allow for it. And she came in with bonding that was broken. And if you're breaking bonding, it's a good sign that you're going to also chip the veneer if you don't fix why the bonding's breaking. People are always like, oh, bonding's just weak. No, it's not. It actually is fine if your bite is balanced.

32:39And so I found that one particularly very interesting because listen, I didn't go out and seek anyone. I explained what could and could not be done. And I started with a very small amount of six and four. And I told her that you should really do your full smile because you're going to be particular and you're going to see a seam of where the teeth stop and start. Right. And so after I got done, she electively came back about six months later and did all the rest of her teeth. So I don't know how much veneer remorse she really had. Right, because there were six months where it was just the two.

33:24Am I understanding that right? Where there were just the six on top and four on bottom, and then she electively came back to do another eight teeth. Yeah, yeah. Right? And I've seen her since. And every time, I love my teeth so much. I love you. Okay. So, okay. So now real veneer remorse. I think when people have good teeth and they go in with expectations of fixing something that's bothering them and they turn out with overprepared, these were prepless teeth, by the way, that we did on the one that we were just talking about, zero drilling. Okay. But overprepared in their, you know, in their twenties and they have pegs and they have gum problems and veneers are popping off.

34:15Yeah, that's veneer remorse, but that's, that's what I'm talking about is that that's not, that's not veneers. That's just bad work. And I feel terrible and I wish the dental industry would do something about it. Right. Right. But the best thing I can say is like. Go to somebody that does it every single day. Don't go to your local dentist who talked you into, you know, a smile makeover, because it's not. It's like going to your GP with a cold and saying, like, while you're swabbing my throat, could I just get a quick facelift? So what about corrections? Like how much time do you, how much of your cases do you do revisions?

35:04Way too much. Over 50 % of my work is revision work. In fact, I'm getting like, I have a torn labrum and I'm starting to get problems with my hands just from, and the materials, again, this goes like, it's a whole cycle. Really good work is hand layered ceramic, meaning it's paintbrush powder, it's painted on, baked in an oven. When it goes into someone's mouth, it's a very similar hardness to enamel. And so when you cut good work off, it cuts off like enamel. It's very easy and very soft. For dental companies, they're like, we got to figure something else out. We need to make a material that we can brand and make it fast and easy and cheap so that everybody can use it.

35:53And so now, and we use it, but people use it the wrong way. There's something called monolithic Emacs, which is what unfortunately 90 % of the dental technicians are trained in today because it's fast, cheap, easy, big business, promotes lecturers to go on stage to talk about it. People say, oh, it's stronger, it's harder, it's better. The problem is it is so strong that it is nearly impossible to cut off. And more importantly, when you're eating, right, if it's off, a veneer would just chip, which is fine. You go in and replace it. A monolithic Emacs veneer will not chip. It will just rock the tooth and rock the tooth until it needs to be extracted.

36:42And so cutting that off is a absolute nightmare. It's a nightmare for me and it's horrible for the patient. That's one thing you can do is ask what they're using. Yeah, what material you're using and why. Yeah. And your preferred material is? Layered ceramic. Wow. Carlene, you had this question about pop-on veneers and I never even knew that was a thing. I don't know it was a thing either, but that's what my research told me. I was like, I don't know what this is. Is this like a toupee? I don't know. And then I Googled it and I actually was coming across websites that was like, pop on veneers, like sign up here.

37:27It was like TikTok. Snap on smile. Are people doing this as a real thing? It's called snap on smile. Okay. And basically it is the same material that we make temporaries with. That's what I was thinking. It's printed. So it's strong and it is huge. Huge business? No, it's huge. Oh, I see. Okay. Yeah. And I would say, are people doing it? I don't know of any, but I do know it's used a lot in television. I know a lot of my patients who work on TV, they have a role or they have this or they have that. And they use snap-on smiles to simulate, you know, big veneers or, you know, goofy smile, whatever it is.

38:22Like Matt Dillon in Something About Mary that's dating me, but that's a snap-on smile. Okay, got it. Yeah, got it. And a lot of, obviously, everyone's on camera at all times these days and lots of famous smiles get scrutinized. And there's one celebrity on social media where people frequently say, that's not her. Look at her teeth. Her teeth weren't like that before. They weren't gappy. And so as one of the world's top aesthetic dentists, what common dental reasons could explain such a noticeable shift? Or are the people right that she's a clone? Can we say who it is? Oh, what's probably happening.

39:01So she has veneers for sure. Yeah. I did not do them. I know who did them. She has not had them changed. So she had them when she was a kid. And then she went through whatever she went through in life. And the veneers are white, except for where the gum has receded and you're starting to see the difference. And then her bite has definitely shifted the teeth so that she now has spaces between her teeth because she's knocking into the veneers. It was definitely Emax, the monolithic Emax. So the tooth is moving and as it moves, it creates a gap. And so, yeah. Yeah. So that is, that's real. That's real.

39:41And we talk a lot about cosmetic enhancements on the show and surgeries that people are doing on their face. Could that complicate the way you need to design their smile versus maybe five years ago? Could it come? Yeah. It does. Or are there? Yeah. Like if someone's like, I'm going to get a lower jaw lift or whatever. Or Botox. Or threads. What is it? Okay. So a couple of things. A couple of things to look out for. I don't love Botox south of the eyes, especially around the mouth and especially anywhere near the chin. So a lot of people, when they get that, they smile and one side goes like this and then one side goes normal.

40:28Right. Joker style. And it makes it look like they have a crooked smile. So and it takes a long time for it to really go back to normal. So and I see it all the time. Lip lifts.

40:45if done well, always. And if done in the right situations can help a lot. But, you know, it was a very like publicized treatment to where a lot of surgeons started doing it and more so a lot of patients started asking for it. And, you know, there's a certain drape to your upper lip, which makes your smile beautiful. And sometimes when it's like pinned up against your nose, it makes my job very hard to make your smile now look pretty. Another thing obviously is filler, right? So in the dental world, we love a stretchy cheek, right? When someone comes in and we can really just move it. Why? It's definitely easier to work in someone's mouth, but more importantly, like I was speaking about earlier, you can do, if you're going for a natural, a truly natural look, right?

41:41You're trying to reverse time of what you look like now and what you look like then, not what you look like now and you want to look like somebody else. There's two different patients and I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong, but for people who are really trying to reverse time. You want to rebuild the lower third first, right? So it's like a foundation of a house. And once you do that, the skin drapes differently and you will have to push and pull and fill less versus getting to a place where there's no wrinkles anymore, whether it be from a facelift or from filler. And then I have to shove teeth in that will functionally work, which most of the time, if you're over the age of 50, it requires building up your bite.

42:33So now I have to stretch you more and all of a sudden things don't look normal. And lastly, like if it's overfilled, your smile, your filler in your lip and filler in the nasolabial folds adds weight to your skin and pushes your lip down. And so as you're getting older, everything's falling and you're saying, I don't see my smile the way that I once did. Right. And my lips are getting thinner. So like, I'm going to go to the dermatologist. My lips are thin. Yes. Inject the lips, make it bigger, but it's going down and bigger. So now you're showing even less. And so then patients are coming into me and saying like, I lost my smile.

43:15I used to, and they'll show me a picture when they were 25. I used to have this great big smile. But what happened was there's a natural elasticity where the skin is falling and then they're injecting it to be lower and fuller and covering more. And it's going actually against what you're really trying to achieve. We've all heard of ozempic face. Is there such a thing as ozempic teeth? Well, ozempic face gives you ozempic teeth. Okay. Right. So let's say someone comes in. And every time you're building a smile, what you're trying to do is create harmony in someone's face. Right. And so if they come in and they don't tell you like, hey, I'm about to lose 50 pounds, you're building teeth for them today.

44:02Now I'm not saying like 10 pounds, give or take, that's fine. But when you build teeth and then they lose 50 pounds, those teeth are going to look huge. And obviously I have patients like that. And so Ozempic face, I would say gives you Ozempic teeth because the teeth are not changing size and they're just sitting there, whereas your face is getting thinner and more drawn and your teeth are just looking bigger and bigger and bigger in proportion to everything else. you know what? I see that now. I'm picturing it and I'm just like, that is part of the look. Yeah. Because for the longest time they were talking about Ozempic face and I was like, I don't really see it.

44:45But this year, I really, it's very obvious and it's kind of skeletal. Skeletal. Part of that look is the protruding teeth. So what is your recommendation then? if somebody was going to do this. If you're planning on losing weight dramatically, wait to have your teeth done. Yeah. Yeah. If you're planning on going on a 10-pound diet, like it's no problem. Yeah, right. Yeah. I'm curious because you have a certain aesthetic, obviously, that you're trying to maintain. What if a client is asking you for something that it's, maybe in Dubai they want something different than they want in New York or whatever.

45:29Do you run into that at all? Never. No. I don't buy that. Okay. So the first thing that I, we have 15 dentists working with us and everybody is, you know, super passionate about what they think is right and all those other things. And I would say that number one, the first thing I tell them is it's not about making you happy. It's about making them happy. That said, if it is biologically sound and functional, my aesthetic is not everyone's aesthetic and I can adapt to understanding what they want. Now, think about this. If a woman comes in with a lot of visible plastic surgery, not, you know, not good undetectable and I'm not saying undetectable plastic surgery is good and visible plastic surgery is bad.

46:16I'm just saying like when people say like, oh, that's good work. You can't even tell if anything done. or, oh, that's bad work. You know, they look tight or pulled. When they look like that, you can't give them a natural smile because it will look like they have terrible brown teeth. You know what I mean? So that's when you, what you really should be doing is kind of sizing up the person and kind of taking yourself from your, now from your aesthetic to give them what they would to look their best. That said, it's definitely more enjoyable to do your own aesthetic because you just, you savor it that much more.

47:03So what I'm hearing is you give them the smile depending on how big their personality is. Correct. Big personality gets big teeth. Correct. The quiet people get small teeth. No, I'm joking. I'm joking. They get what they, well, they get what they want, right? Within reason. You're trying to make them happy. So one of the biggest things I hear from my friends as they age is that their teeth shift and they don't recognize their smile. You're kind of talking about that with the lip filler. Definitely happened to one of my front teeth. It moved. Great. What is the course of action? Because somebody did say, do Invisalign.

47:37And I was like, I just can't. So what do you do? Let nature take its course? Or do you try to halt the process with an Invisalign? any non-invasive ideas. I don't have a problem with Invisalign. I would just, okay, so think of it this way. There are probably, you know, a million practicing cosmetic dentists and I would go to, for my own teeth, less than I can count on one hand. That's not true because I have 15 associates. But there's not, what I'm saying is there's not a lot of really, really talented practitioners. Think about it in a different way. If you had cancer, God forbid, or you had a problem with your heart or you, you know, you're a professional baseball player and you tore your, you know, ligament, your ACL or your rotator cuff, you would want to go to the person that you know has done that surgery and fix that, that problem, right?

48:38You wouldn't want to go to a local orthopedic surgeon who, yeah, he can do the surgery and do it fine. When you do orthodontia or Invisalign, which is the same thing, my only suggestion would be that you really have to go to somebody who's great. And the thing I don't like about Invisalign, and I see it at least once every single day, no matter what location I'm in, people come in adults, they started Invisalign, they didn't want to finish it, it shifted their teeth, and it made everything worse. Or they did Invisalign, they followed the protocol, they told them it was going to be six to eight months, and it ended up being two years, and they can't even close their teeth because they have no bite in the back.

49:19And what went from a very simple 10-unit veneer or four-unit veneer case, now is a 28-unit veneer case because you have to reconstruct someone's bite. So number one, Yes, Invisalign with a great orthodontist and you buckling down and following through with it. The other option is braces on the inside of your teeth that people can't see. That's better because you have no say. Yeah. You're not taking them off and you just have to follow treatment. Compliance wise. Yeah. Interesting. So if you had an 11-year-old son like I do and you had to choose between Invisalign's and braces. Braces. There'd be no question.

49:57No question. Wow. No question. Sorry, Ryan. He's not going to wear the Invisalign. Okay, let's pretend you're in an alternate universe. Love that. Where you personally, unfortunately, you've lost all your riches and you cannot afford veneers. Got it. But you're not happy with your smile. So what would you do to get the best possible smile that you could possibly achieve on a budget? What's the budget? Good question. Let's see. Canadian dollars or U.S. dollars? You're on a teacher's salary. Let's say that. Okay. Invisalign and bleaching. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yep. Okay. But again, like... In-office bleaching?

50:41Yep. Okay. But it doesn't have to be. Yeah. To be honest, in-office bleaching is, let's call it a boost to wearing the trays at night for at least an hour or two consecutively, seven to 10 days, you'll get a much stronger, longer lasting result doing it that way. yeah right what are three habits that you personally as a top cosmetic dentist would never do drink out of glass straws really yep why chips your teeth i gotta get rid of those maybe that's what happens it's the latest craze the latest craze yeah yeah nobody wants plastic anymore so every summer especially people come back from europe with their glass bottles with broken teeth and glass straws.

51:30Bite my fingernails. Chips your teeth. Really? Yep. And the third thing that I would recommend is to wear a night guard. So it's not really answering your question what I would never do. But a night guard acts as like a retainer and prevents against all of the shifting that causes all the problems later on in life. Yeah. Good to know. Well, I do need to ask you because you mentioned it. You're launching Appa Beauty. It's been out for a while. It's a oral care line that we've had honestly since 2015. Okay. We've just been not having enough time to give it the full attention that it needs. So we have a couple of great things.

52:14So first of all, I mean, the first thing that people talk about when they're like, what are tips and tricks that you can do? Yes. To have a great smile. The number one tip is to brush your teeth, right? With an electric toothbrush. And so I find it interesting that people have, myself included, you know, 10, 15, 20 minute skincare routines they do without a doubt every single night, right? But really it's like they can't be bothered to brush their teeth for the full two minutes. It's like a fast scrub, throw the brush down. And by the way, your skincare stuff is also beautifully packaged. And it's like a present every time you open a container of serum or whatever it is that you're buying creams.

53:05And it's like displayed beautifully in your Venice. You open it up and it's like it's engaging that you want to take care of your skin. Oral care has never been like that. So Jonathan Adler partnered with us with this beautiful Lucite holder that has the paste, the rinse with no alcohol and a special gel for your gums that recreates and healthy gums, which is an amazing product. Beautiful electric toothbrush that you will see. So everything is meant to be displayed so that you get a little bit excited about taking care of your teeth. And then we have things like, you know, lip loofah, which is a lip scrub, lip shine, which is like a blue gloss that you put on that reflects light into your smile.

53:46I think we have one of the best lip balms out there beyond the blue lip shine. And then we have a tooth gloss, which is like a minty gloss that you can put directly on your teeth for a little fresh breath and a little shine to your smile. Love it. It's a full tooth care routine. Yeah. Yeah. And I love that Jonathan Adler, I need to get, I need to see this and we will link to everything as well, guys. Yes. And you have managed to scale, ha ha, your business.

54:18No, no, I'm coming in with the dad jokes in LA, New York, Miami, Dubai. How do you do it all? Yeah, it didn't happen overnight. Yeah. And people always forget that I've been doing this for a long time. I opened, I mean, I've been visiting a visiting doctor in Dubai since 2010. So it didn't happen overnight in that you make small strides and that becomes your normal. And then you say like, I can do more. and then you make a couple more strides. And then you start to realize that things like decision-making are exhausting, right? So you have somebody cook your food because you can't be bothered to sit and think like, what am I going to eat?

54:59Because part of it is you need to eat the right things to have the right amount of fuel that doesn't weigh you down, that keeps you energized, keeps your head clear. I have created a routine to where most of my life is on autopilot, right? So my morning routine is the same. I, you know, I have homes in every place that I travel to and they are set up exactly the same. The only way that I know where I am is where the sun is when I hit the shades where it's coming in from the windows. I've worked really hard. I mean, look, I love this and I wouldn't do it if I didn't. And so there are people that say like, oh, I want to, I mean, you will figure it out if that's truly what you want to do.

55:45And it is truly what I want to do. And I have figured out every way to try and make it as seamless as possible with as little stress as possible, which. Yeah. Yeah. So what's the next stride? What's your next tiptoe into for 2026? I am actually going to Dallas on Saturday to look at space to build an office there. Okay. That's exciting. Yeah. Well, before we let you go, we're doing a rapid fire. Yes. Myth versus fact. Yes. Here we go. First one, you still get cavities with veneers. Myth or fact? Fact. Ooh. Okay. Okay. Myth or fact, repeated use of whitening strips or other at-home whitening products are damaging to your tooth enamel.

56:31Myth. Okay. For people who are sensitive to whitening strips, you can use them once a week instead of over consecutive days and still get great whitening results. Myth or fact? I would change that. Okay. I would say if your teeth are sensitive, use whitening strips that have carbamide peroxide versus whitening strips that have hydrogen peroxide. Okay. Ultrasonic dental pods are the best way to keep Invisaligns and retainers clean. Fact. Chewing gum with xylitol is a solid way to help prevent cavities and maintain teeth health. Fact. And it creates salivary flow, which is also anticarious, anti-cavities.

57:12Okay. And chewing gum is okay? Very good. Really? Yep. Okay. Great. As a gum chewer, I like to hear that. Myth or fact, veneers give you bad breath? They can, but any ill-fitting dental restoration will give you bad breath. Okay. Yeah. Okay. And our last one, there's no such thing as ugly teeth, just poor teeth.

57:37Pores in quality or? You know what they say? There's a meme going around. They respectfully take this touch. There's no such thing as ugly. There's just poor. Yeah, no, yeah, no. Being rich is the best moisturizer as well. That's the other meme that's out there. Thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Abbott. Thank you for having me. It was a lot of fun. We really appreciate your time. And thank you for giving us a little scoop on what you're working on next. It's great. My pleasure. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Thanks for listening. You can find details on every product mentioned in today's episode, along with our exclusive promo codes on our blog at BreakingBeautyPodcast.com.

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58:54See you next Wednesday.

59:11Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.