Dr. Bill Dorfman (ABC’s “Extreme Makeover” and “The Doctors” on CBS) chatted about being a cosmetic dentist in the digital age.
Background on Dr. Bill Dorfman
Aside from being cosmetic and general dentist, Dorfman is also a lecturer and author of the best-selling cosmetic dentistry book “The Smile Guide” and the NY Times bestseller “Billion Dollar Smile.” He has also been featured on “Oprah” and “Larry King.”
He has been dubbed “The Michael Jordan Of Dentistry.” He is the leading dentist who is responsible for creating smiles for many of Hollywood’s brightest stars such as Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Jackman, Usher, Jessica Simpson, Fergie, Ozzy Osbourne, Julianne Hough, Eva Longoria, Britney Spears, and Anne Hathaway, among others.
Dorfman has become a “star” in his own right as the featured dentist on the hit ABC series “Extreme Makeover,” where he performed dental transformations on the show’s participants.
He is also a father, mentor, and philanthropist.
Inspirations as a cosmetic dentist for celebrities
On his inspirations as a cosmetic dentist, he said, “I think the thing that inspires me the most about being a cosmetic dentist is the positive impact I have on being able to help change people’s lives.”
“I mean, how many jobs exist where you actually go to work every day and feel like you made a positive impact in people’s life that gave them the ability to smile? Actually smile! It’s the most gratifying feeling in the world. Like yesterday for example, I finished a case on a young woman who was born congenitally missing her two lateral incisors,” he said.
“Those are the two teeth next to her front teeth,” he said. “She’s been walking around with her canines moved into that position. She has two beautiful, big, healthy normal front teeth, and next to it she has two vampire teeth that just look funky. We did four porcelain veneers on her. And for the first time in her life, she actually loves her smile.”
“That, to me, is the most gratifying feeling in the world, being able to give people the ability to have confidence in their smile and love their smile,” he added.
Future plans
Regarding his future plans, he shared, “I plan on practicing for many, many more years. I love doing what I do.”
“I wake up every morning excited about what I do, and one of the things that’s added even more excitement to my career is with the ability to invent different things,” he said.
“For instance, a lot of people don’t know this, but I invented Zoom teeth whitening, which was the most popular tooth whitening system in the world,” he explained.
“I have two new inventions coming out this year. One is a new dissolving whitening strip called, POOOF! and the other is a caffeinated gumball called KickBallz,” he said.
“I’m super excited about both of those and then just, you know, keep doing what I’ve been doing for the last 40 years,” he added.
Being a dentist in the digital age
On being a cosmetic dentist in the digital age, he said, “The digital age has made a remarkable change in the ability to educate patients. Prior to that, you were lucky if you got a piece on TV or you could pay for a commercial or send out mailers or things like that.”
“Today, you have the ability to create a really dynamic Instagram page where you can show and educate patients through dramatic makeovers that you do on a daily basis,” he said.
“Also, you don’t have to hire anybody or hope that you get a chance to get on tv. You just post and post and post. It’s made a huge impact,” he added.
Utilizing technology in his daily routine
On using technology in his daily routine, he remarked, “In my overall daily routine, I use technology all day long. I’m on Instagram, looking and seeing what’s going on with other dental practices with other things that I normally wouldn’t get exposed to.”
“I mean, prior to this I would just watch the news or read a newspaper, but now there’s a lot of other avenues to get current information,” he said.
Career-defining moments
Dorfman went on the share some of his career-defining moments.
“I would say the biggest moment in my professional career was being selected by ABC to be the featured dentist on the head show ‘Extreme Makeover.’ Prior to ‘Extreme Makeover’ dentistry had never been positioned in a very positive light in the media,” he said.
“I mean, you had ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and ‘Marathon Man’ and all these other things. For the first time ever, cosmetic dentistry was highlighted in a really positive light on primetime TV at night. That was remarkable,” he noted.
“They estimated that cosmetic dentistry increased in North America by over 30 percent as a result of that show, and it educated people, and it showed them the possibilities of what could be done,” he explained.
“It gave a lot of people who were kind of desperate, hope and direction for how they could have a beautiful, healthy smile,” he added.
Advice for young and aspiring dentists
For young and emerging dentists, he said, “My advice for young aspiring dentists is to do what I did and find great mentors, who have been successful in dentistry and learn from them. And take it one step further.”
Success
On his definition of the word success, Dorfman said, “Success means accomplishing something substantial and worthwhile.”
To learn more about Dr. Bill Dorfman, follow him on Instagram, and check out his official homepage.
