Health & Beauty Notes: Tips from local experts

July 2022—Need some fine tuning? Spend some time this summer thinking about you!  Here are some tips and trends from local health and beauty experts to help you get started.

Dana Ellis, MD, FAAD + Melissa Beachy, PA-C, Glow Director & Master Injector 

Glow Dermspa is a luxury aesthetic clinic for women and men, located in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Created by the skincare experts at Arsenault Dermatology, we combine world-class aesthetic services with a concierge-style level of personal care and attention. Our team creates comprehensive, personalized treatment plans that focus on each client’s individual needs, lifestyle, and aesthetic goals.

Glow Dermspa
9023 Town Center Pkwy, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 • 941.264.1161 • glowdermspa.com

What is filler?

Dermal fillers are minimally invasive injectable cosmetic treatments that help rejuvenate your appearance and enhance your natural facial features.  Made of a gel-like substance, hyaluronic acid fillers can be used to treat lines and wrinkles, replace volume loss and contour the face.  The results last anywhere from 6 months to 2 years, depending on the type of filler used and the area being treated.  With many different types of hyaluronic acid filler available on the market, 90% of the results from filler has to do with the technique and only 10% has to do with the product itself.

What is Glow Dermspa’s specialty?

At Glow, the goal we have for our clients is “we want everyone to notice, but no one to know.”  Our specialty is natural-looking results. We want you to look like the best version of yourself.  It is so satisfying as providers to help someone feel beautiful and confident.  To some, it’s life changing.  Staying up-to-date with all the latest treatments and techniques ensures we are providing our clients with the highest level of quality aesthetic in their filler treatments.  We find a lot of clients come to us apprehensive about getting filler, based on a past experience they weren’t satisfied with or seeing others around them with undesirable outcomes.  We love to show clients something different.  Our approach builds the trust and confidence in our skills and expertise, which translates into delivering the best aesthetic outcomes.  They are excited to come back!

Describe the Glow Experience.

At Glow, we are patient focused.  From the moment you walk in the door, you will be greeted with a warm smile and a luxury feel.  We strive to create a memorable experience in a luxurious space where clients feel relaxed, comfortable and pampered.  We understand the level of trust it takes for someone to entrust us with their beauty.  We do not take that responsibility lightly.  We offer the highest level of quality care and our outcomes are a reflection of that.

Sumeet Bhanot, Facial Plastic Surgeon

Dr. Sumeet Bhanot is a Yale-trained double board-certified facial plastic surgeon who has been named among Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors for the last eleven consecutive years. He has been bringing his unique blend of art, beauty and science to patients in the Sarasota area for almost two decades.

Bhanot Facial Plastic Surgery 
2038 Bee Ridge Rd., Sarasota, FL 34239 • 941.966.3223 • sarasotafacialplastics.com  • info@drbhanot.net

Why do I look so old?

Defining the aging face seems deceptively simple yet it’s true manifestations elude the best of us because we hang on to oversimplified, one dimensional catch phrases of wrinkles and volume loss. The grand design of our face starts with a deep bony skeleton and interwoven mesh of various types of soft tissue (fat, muscle, fascia and skin) all of which are tethered to the bone by cutaneous ligaments. Youth is defined by the shape and volume distribution of the face, the ideal being more fullness in the upper cheeks, hollows in the lower cheeks and a crisp jawline. With aging, the soft tissue falls, especially fat, reversing this facial proportion. As the volume falls, it creates the perceived volume loss of the upper face, and the bunching of this tissue around the mouth creates laugh lines and accordions the lips filling them with wrinkles.

Deep Plane Lifts vs the Rest?

Ascribing to the one-dimensional analysis, we pull with mini-lifts and plump with fillers and fat. Why not just move the fallen volume? Hmmm.

Science purports tremendous innovative progress with shiny expensive energy machines and eloquently named products that just hollow out the areas that need fullness and overly plump others. Look around you – do you like what you see? We are slaves to a system of simple solutions for a quick buck, where we are selling the idea of beauty with smoke and mirrors rather than creating it.

To create beauty, we evoke the grand design with the deep plane facelift. We release the deep tethers that foil the other facelift techniques and lift the deep tissue that had fallen to its youthful origin. This recreates the original proportions of facial volume. While the concept is simple the technique is intimidatingly complex. 

Mini lifts do little more than pull, and the SMAS facelifts struggle with shifting volume, often augmented with fat injections to camouflage the limitations. Non-surgical fillers and threads are great for subtle improvement, but create disastrous results when pushed to the max, an all-too-common theme in celebrity plastic surgery gone wrong. 

To realize our dreams is to face reality, embrace vanity and ignore hype. Choose wisely and enjoy life!

Cameron Johnson, DMD

Dr. Cameron Johnson is the son of Dr. Jill Morris, founder of World Class Dentistry in beautiful Sarasota, FL. Dr. Johnson graduated from LECOM School of Dentistry and now focuses his skills in providing world class orthodontics to this area. He focuses his training in early orthodontic interception for adolescents. His memberships include North American Association of Facial Orthotropics, American Orthodontic Society, International Association of Orthodontics, American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine and International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology.

World Class Dentistry
3951 Swift Rd., Sarasota, FL 34231 • 941.923.6363 • sarasotadentist.com

At what childhood age is interceptive orthodontics recommended?

We recommend an evaluation for interceptive orthodontics by age 7. During this stage of a child’s growth, the airway, tongue posture and jaw development can be evaluated and corrected. Does the child have a tongue tie, retruded chin, open mouth breathing, crooked teeth, or narrow arches? Does the child wet the bed or have trouble concentrating in school with ADD or ADHD? These can be a few of the signs that early orthodontic treatment is needed. The child’s dental arches can be stimulated through appliance therapy to create a better airway and facial attractiveness. We specifically design each treatment plan with the goal of managing the care at the appropriate time for an ideal outcome. These issues if left untreated can cause difficulties later in life such as temporomandibular disorder (TMD), facial asymmetries, airway issues, jaw pain, spaces, and crooked teeth. The earlier the care is given, the easier it is to achieve the desired and healthy outcome.

How can it be helped?

Early interception is my goal to any form of childhood orthodontics. I create beautiful, broad smiles with an orthopedic focus allowing accommodation for the permanent teeth, the tongue, and healthy joint position. Myofunctional treatment is important to instill proper function of the tongue and facial muscles, leading to correct breathing, swallowing and function. Specific appliances are employed to aid and benefit the patterns of natural bone growth and remodeling that is occurring in the developing child. I apply a unique system of self-ligating braces that allows the patient’s own physiology to help treat their dental issues while achieving the desired cosmetic and functional outcome for the child and parents.

Vicky Greco, Aesthetic Director

Vicky Greco is the Aesthetic Director at Greco Dermatology where her skills perfectly complement the dermatology, hair restoration and regenerative medicine practices at Greco Dermatology and Greco Medical Group. Vicky’s career began as a freelance makeup artist in the beauty, bridal, film, and fashion industries where she spent ten years perfecting her craft. She served as business manager for some of the most prestigious makeup lines including MAC and NARS Cosmetics. Vicky will offer aesthetic procedures such as scalp micro pigmentation for hair loss, scar and stretch mark camouflage, microblading and lip blush tattooing. 

Greco Dermatology
1990 Main Street, Suite 700, Sarasota, FL 34236 • 941.867.3376 • vicky@grecodermatology.com • grecodermatology.com

What is Scalp Micro Pigmentation (SMP)? 

Scalp micro pigmentation (SMP) is a specialized cosmetic technique that deposits natural pigment into the upper layers of the skin to replicate natural hair follicles. SMP can add the appearance of density to naturally thinning areas of the scalp as well as help camouflage post-procedural scarring or other focal areas of alopecia. Overall SMP creates an undetectable illusion of thicker, fuller hair as the color-matched natural pigment blends with existing hairs.  Typically, a client needs 2 – 3 treatment sessions spaced 14 days apart. 

What is Scar Camouflage?

Scar and Stretch Mark Camouflage blends hypopigmented or pale scars and stretch marks into the surrounding skin, dramatically improving their appearance. Scars and stretch marks become less perceptible and noticeable with color and depth restored to the tissue. A color palette of natural pigment is used to precisely approximate skin tone to the surrounding area.  In cases where even skin tone already exists, inkless stretch mark camouflage is a great option to restore depth and texture. Typically, a client needs 2 to 3 treatment sessions spaced 30 – 45 days apart.  

Results for Scalp Micro Pigmentation and Scar Camouflage are often permanent with occasional touch-ups performed 2–5 years after the initial sessions. 

Michelle Scala, DMD + Brandy Rubinski, DMD

Lakewood Ranch Cosmetic Dentistry has become the forefront in Cosmetic and Comprehensive dentistry in the Lakewood Ranch area. Leaders in advanced digital technology in their state of the art Smile Studio, Dr. Michelle Scala and Dr. Brandy Rubinski share their 35 years of combined dental excellence. Advancing us into the next generation of “Digital Smile Design” with a full menu of services that provides many options  for Smile Rejuvenation. Their natural ability to design and “create one smile at a time” have made them top of their field in Cosmetic Dentistry.

Lakewood Ranch Cosmetic Dentistry
8430 Enterprise Cir, Suite 100, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 • 941.907.4777 • lakewoodranchsmiles.com

What Is Digital Smile Design?

The smile design process all starts with a photograph, taken in the Smile Studio equipped with a photo booth to capture each individual’s natural facial features. That first photo begins a start-to-finish digital process in which the photos serve as “blueprints.” After a close study of facial structure, Dr. Scala, Dr. Rubinski, and their team of engineers design the smile to blend with each individual’s unique facial features, guiding patients from a 2D design to a customized 3D digital smile. The team follows a digital process that involves photos, scanning, and smile simulation to not only correct both form and function, but will bring out the very best in your facial features. In some cases, facial aesthetics are used to create a non-surgical, natural “Smile Lift,” which emulates a more youthful appearance. 

This process sets Dr. Scala and her team apart from other dental offices. In addition to a customized state-of-the-art Smile Studio, the practice is continually updating the technology and keeping current with the best materials and lab services.

How can Digital Smile Design change my smile?

The digital design process can help with every type of smile and consists of several services used to enhance one’s look. Your streamlined treatment plan can consist of one or more of the menu of services which includes but is not limited to: custom crowns, veneers, invisalign, implants, bite correction, whitening and botox. Each customized treatment plan is followed with a series of photos from start to finish to maximize the best possible outcome for “Smile Rejuvenation,” helping you feel and look your very best. The team’s complementary skills, superior techniques, passion for beauty, and state-of-the-art equipment make them the ultimate dental choice in cosmetic dentistry for the Lakewood Ranch and surrounding areas. Dr. Scala, Dr. Rubinski, and their team are eager to welcome patients to the “New Age of Dentistry.”

Alissa Shulman, M.D., F.A.C.S

Dr. Shulman was named Physician of the Year for 2016 at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. She was previously the Chief of Staff at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and the President of the Florida Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Sovereign Plastic Surgery 
Medical Arts Building 1950 Arlington St., Suite 112, Sarasota, Florida 34239 • 941.366.5476 • sovereignps.com

My breast implants are getting close to ten years old, what should I do?

The long accepted “rule” of changing breast implants is really more of a suggestion (quite honestly, a self-serving one for plastic surgeons).

The concern over having the most up-to-date implant design is reasonable, but the last time the silicone material was updated, was around 2006 and saline implant design hasn’t changed since 1999. What is more important is how your breasts/implants look and feel. For the most part, if your breasts look and feel as good as you would like, leave them alone.

We all age, and breasts age and change, too. They can become larger, smaller, and more droopy (ptotic). Your implants, however, don’t change (other than the implant shell breaking or leaking). Even hard breasts are soft silicone covered in hard scar tissue (the saline in implants is simply absorbed into the surrounding tissue).

If your breasts have changed after augmentation, it is a good time for an evaluation with your plastic surgeon.  If you are not ready for removal, then replacement is an option. Usually, slightly larger implants are needed just to maintain your shape.

If you are done with your implants, then it is just a matter of how you would like your breasts to look and what true breast volume and skin you have.  Simple removal may be acceptable if you are okay with your amount of tissue and shape. If you are not pleased with the droop, then a breast lift (mastopexy) may achieve your desired shape. If the size is a little smaller than you wish, AND you have some spare fat, then fat grafting is a nice option (liposuction, filtration, and injection of the fat into the breasts). This can be combined with simple removal or a mastopexy.

For the most part, breasts look better than the patient expects after implant removal. And, by the time someone has decided to have their implants removed, the breast size is fairly consistent with their body’s physical and imagined proportions.