The Incisal Edge

This will be of particular interest for those dentists who provide facial aesthetic treatments; although my purely anecdotal opinion is that there are far more trained to carry out the procedures than can find willing participants. I think it’s really more of a marketing problem than anything else, “something to do with the D in BDS” as one of my clients said.

From this weekend’s FT, in the ‘how to spend it’ magazine, is an article by the previously anonymous ‘Spa Junkie’. She has retained her anonymity until now as she is not a professional journalist receiving free treatments, but rather a private client who paid her own way. It turns out that her name is Inge Theron and she has launched her own concept – The FaceGym.

Not be confused with Face Gym of course.

I was taken with one of her statements “we are living longer and I’m not sure that injectables are the best way to preserve our looks.” She goes on to list some complications that she has suffered with injectables, which can only reinforce the prejudices of sceptics.

This is where my interest was raised on behalf of the dental community. Here are a few extracts from the treatment, the full article is available here.

Inge says, “when you go the gym, a unique set of interval-training exercises can make your muscles lengthen and your body change. I am applying that same logic to the face, creating a micro-contouring, muscle-stimulating cardio, strength and interval-training routine.”

The stages of what is described as a ‘workout rather than a facial’ start with a 5 minute ‘Warm up’ where there are ‘knuckle twists’ around the eyes, cheeks and jawline to get the blood flowing.

Next comes the ‘Cardio’ section working on the muscles of facial expression (my interpretation.

The third step works on strength, is based upon the principles of high-intensity interval training and sounds like like a cross between massage and osteopathic therapy.

It’s the next part of the session, described as ‘mouth work’, that may raise eyebrows in the dental community, although for the client that may be part of the benefits.

I quote verbatim:

“My therapist puts on gloves and places the fingers of one hand inside my mouth. She puts her thumb on the roof of my mouth, and the palm of her other hand on the top of my head, to feel my stress points. She presses hard to relieve tension and widen the palate. The sensation is both stretching and decompressing. Her movements are slow and controlled. She turns my head to the side and repeats the action with her forefinger, working to lift my masseter and zygomatic muscles away from the bone at the back of my jaw – first on one side of my mouth, then the other. She explains that the technique relaxes the “fascia”, the tissues that surround the muscles and can become stuck together. Apparently, my masseter muscles are tight and my temporal muscles really stuck. As she moves them away from the bone, it is mildly painful (I whimper a few times), but I can feel the separation. When she takes her fingers out of my mouth, my jaw movements are less tight and more fluid and I can sense the extra space created.”

Finally the session concludes with a ‘Cool down’.

Make your own mind up, at present this is limited to a few salons but if you offer facial aesthetes than you really should be aware, be prepared to field questions from your clients and perhaps be ready to offer the treatment.

Me, I’ll stick to running in the soft rain and wind of West Cork.