In a word, No. That's according to CST advisor Joe Niamtu, III, D.M.D., an oral and maxillofacial surgeon with a practice limited to cosmetic facial surgery in Richmond, Va. When we asked him what he was anticipating regarding technology in aesthetics in the coming year, his prediction isn't which machines will deliver the best results. Nor is it which device patients will ask for most by name. Rather, it's that we could see a growing division between surgical and non-surgical practices. And as far as he's concerned, he's sticking to his surgical guns.
Dr. Niamtu“As a surgical practice, I don’t have a ‘spa’ component to my business. Although I generate significant production with injectables, I don’t use ‘machines.’ Although many surgical practices have a ‘spa’ component they will be, more and more in the future, competing with non-surgical practices that don’t do surgery and only use ‘machines.’ Although many of the noninvasive machines for fat reduction and skin tightening have some result, they cannot deliver the results that surgical procedures do.
I believe we will see more of a schism between surgical and non-surgical practices.
In addition, since most of these devices are aimed at the non-surgeon market and can be operated by non-physicians, I believe that these treatments will become more and more commoditized and less and less profitable for the traditional surgical practice. In addition, surgeons employing these devices may find themselves competing with referring doctors that now offer these services and may be less likely to send patients to that office. Although many of these devices have merit, I have chosen to avoid this area of aesthetics for the above reasons.”
