Interview by Betsy Schaper

Photographs by ChiChi Ubiña

Dr. Linhart, tell us about your background.

I truly have lived the American dream. I was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and immigrated to the U.S. with my family at the age of thirteen. We were fleeing both a Communist regime and the memories of life under the Nazis. My mother was an Auschwitz survivor. My father served as a physician in Hungary.  In 1966, my parents, my sister and I settled in Brooklyn. I attended high school there, and went on to Bowdoin College in Maine, where I pursued a Biochemistry-Russian double-major—and was also an avid hockey, lacrosse and squash player.  After graduating from Bowdoin, I returned to New York in 1975 to attend the NYU College of Dentistry. As the son of a physician, I’d always been interested in the medical profession. Dentistry captured my attention because it had so much to offer: artistry, science and the opportunity to help people.

You have built a large practice not just on standard dentistry but you are well known for cosmetic dentistry-- as an expert in porcelain veneers and laminates. How does it make you feel to give someone a wonderful smile when they come to you with bad teeth? What is the most challenging dental process you have encountered & why?

Fast-forward to today, and I’m happy to say I have an established, upscale Manhattan practice that’s lively and successful, and consistently listed in the Castle Connolly Guide to America’s Cosmetic  Doctors & Dentists. I was always drawn to the American entrepreneurial spirit. I never wanted to work for anyone else. I had the self-confidence to start a business at a young age. In fact, I bought my practice two months prior to completing my residency. I didn’t take the conventional route and partner with an older dentist. I did it on my own. In the early days, I went door-to-door handing out cards! Although I’m a long way from door-to-door selling today, I still don’t leave any stone unturned.

Almost immediately after opening that one-chair office thirty years ago, I began to explore ways to advance my practice without ever sacrificing my standards or compromising in my commitment to the highest level of proficiency in terms of state-of-the-art procedures and techniques—both in standard dentistry and cosmetic dentistry.

Today, I practice in a 4,800 square-foot facility in the venerable Helmsley Building on Park Avenue. And my practice is different from many others in being so multifaceted and full service. In order to achieve my dream of creating a practice that provided a comprehensive inter-disciplinary approach to oral medicine while emphasizing the importance of good health and the value of cosmetic artistry, I recognized the necessity of hiring experts in various related fields. I personally focus on cosmetic restorative care—porcelain veneers, and crowns. I’ve painstakingly sought out the best specialist in periodontics, implant dentistry, root canals and orthodontics to add to my team. We also have the best hygienist. This practice truly is, as one magazine put it, “one-stop dental perfection.”

There is nothing more gratifying than to be able to give a beautiful, youthful, healthy smile to a person who wouldn’t smile because of unattractive teeth. That smile has the power to change their life and to have a positive impact on the people they interact with. I feel very privileged to be able to have this type of positive effect on my patients.

As for the most challenging aspect of my practice, it may be in adjusting people’s expectations and helping them to be more realistic about their goals. Just as with hairstylists or facial cosmetic surgeons, people often come to see me with a celebrity photograph saying, “I want to look like her.” When someone brings me a photo like this, I get nervous, because there’s no such thing as an ideal smile. Inevitably, they don’t realize they have totally different bone-structure, face-shape, lips and skin-color. Or they’re older and can’t (and don’t want to) have teeth that look like a twenty-two year old’s. So the ideal they come in wanting may not be realistic for them. And yet, we can achieve a dramatic improvement, not just in the appearance of their teeth. Smile-design is the crux of what I do. Bringing people around to appreciating their own potential—and that I can make their teeth in their mouth look great—that’s the biggest challenge. And the biggest reward. There’s nothing like seeing someone smile with that new confidence; it’s not just their mouth that looks better—their entire appearance benefits.

Do people still get their teeth capped these days, and if so, how long does this process last? What long-term effects are there and what would you recommend instead of caps these days?

Sure, people still get their teeth capped—that’s another way of referring to crowns—but we are very conservative when it comes to removing tooth-structure, which is what crowns entail. If we can address the problem with porcelain veneers, that’s my first choice. For the most part, the work we do with crowns is for patients who already have them when they come in, and perhaps these need adjustment or replacement. (Both veneers and crowns last twelve to fifteen years, or more.) These days, of course, crowns can be made of all porcelain, rather than porcelain-with-metal. All porcelain is most esthetic and natural-looking, so it’s particularly good for the front of the mouth where teeth are most visible.

There seems to be an explosion in the dental care market. For someone with an unlimited budget wanting the best looking teeth, what do you recommend, including follow-up care? And for a tight budget, what is the best one can do to keep their teeth looking as good as possible?

An unlimited budget doesn’t mean I’m going to say, ‘You need twenty veneers!”

The first thing most people notice in someone else is their teeth and smile. So it is key, and very fortunate, that cosmetic dentistry has so much to offer, especially considering that we’re living longer and trying to look our best all along. An attractive, healthy smile exudes a strong, confident, successful air. Who doesn’t want that kind of smile?

As for how to get there, treatment can be anything from simple (a minor tweak) to more complex (a combination of techniques.) If a person has a smile that’s perfect in every way but the color, then we recommend an in-office PearlinBrite whitening treatment. If the teeth are crooked, we suggest Invisalign braces and whitening or porcelain veneers. With porcelain veneers, we can correct the teeth that are crooked, chipped or short. It’s a conservative procedure for which we need reduce the teeth only between .2 millimeter and 1 millimeter in order to attach the veneers, which today are extremely natural looking, with all the translucence of real teeth. The secret is in the wax model we do first. From the wax-up, we make temporary veneers so the patient can try them out, and then come back and meet with both me and the technician for fine-tuning. The whole process takes 3-4 days start to finish.

Are there any trends emerging in the dental care market? I know you have your own dental products and have a brand new & exciting product that is about to come on the market--can you tell us about it and your other products--and where our readers might find them? Or where your products might be sold in the near future?

One very popular trend in dentistry is implants. We can place a titanium implant where a tooth was lost, and then place a porcelain crown over it, and it’s as if the tooth were always there in place.

We’ve created a line of our own products such as PearlinBrite toothpaste with aloe, a toothbrush with bristles coated in nanosilver which is anti-bacterial, and PearlinBrite whitening gel, launching in June. These can be purchased at our office or on our Web site (www.drlinhart.com)

All of us see too many overly whitened, fake-looking teeth. How does one avoid that look, so they can have natural-looking white teeth?

The FDA doesn’t regulate whitening products, and people can buy anything and everything on the Internet, so there’s tremendous potential for unsatisfactory outcomes. One of these is overly whitened teeth from misuse or over-use of whitening products. Another is tooth nerve sensitivity. The best way to avoid these risks is to go with supervised whitening in a dental office

What are the three most important things people can do to take great care of their teeth? And what are the three most essential dental products to use and how often?

Apart from the most obvious and often-stated preventive, which is to have regular check-ups and cleanings—the three most important things people can do for the health of their mouths are: 1) brush and floss three times a day. A dentist’s greatest failure most often is in convincing patients to floss; and yet, it’s critical. 2) Avoid sweets. 3) Pay attention to your gums. If they bleed when you floss, or if they’re receding, these are signs that some steps should be taken. Gum-health is important not only for healthy teeth, but for overall health. It’s now known that there’s a relationship between gum-health and systemic health. Yes, the mouth is connected to the body. The bacteria identified in the mouth are similar to those in the plaque found in the [arteries of the?] heart. It’s not clear why, but the link is there, so keep your gums healthy through regular flossing and gentle brushing.

Philanthropy has been a big part of your life. Giving back to your dental school, NYU, has been an integral part of your work. Tell us why this is so important to you and what you are doing and have done there.

One of the reasons my parents brought us to the U.S. was for education. They wanted my sister and me to be able to get an education and have a future full of opportunities in a free country. My wife and I focus today on charitable giving to education, specifically to endow a scholarship at Bowdoin, and to the NYU Linhart Continuing Dental Education Program. I made a major gift to this program because I believe very strongly that it’s not possible to sustain a quality practice without constantly learning, challenging your assumptions, and expanding your skills and your purview. What started as my parents’ dream for me has evolved into my dream to bring NYU Continuing Dental Education to the world. It is a huge honor to link my name to the most elite dental school in the world.

You recently had to expand your offices to make room for the security teams and medical doctors that accompany heads of state & Kings and Queens that are your patients. Is it intimidating to have them as your patients. Are they any more demanding than other patients?

Given that 25% of my patients come from other countries, and often with an entourage, it became essential for me to create the right kind of environment to accommodate them. A foreign head of state, for example, doesn’t come alone, but with assistants, body guards and physicians, as well as family and/or friends. So we just recently designed and created a private suite with its own dental area with retractable sliding glass walls, a sitting area with comfortable sofas and chairs, plus WiFi, a kitchenette and separate bathroom—all to provide the necessary sense of seclusion and serenity.

Are there any items readers should avoid that are dangerous for teeth and abuse our teeth that we are oblivious to and should avoid or be careful with?

People know about some of the common dangers to teeth, like chewing ice, for example. But they may not know that acid reflux and bulimia cause serious tooth erosion. I can instantly spot the damage from stomach acid. Carbonated beverages contain acid that also damages teeth. Another danger is clenching and grinding at night, which can lead to gum recession and TMJ [temporomandibular joint] pain.

Tell us about your life outside your practice. Do you have a passion apart from teeth to which you devote your “spare” time?

I still play hockey! And I play other sports, too. I’m a lifelong athlete—since the age of three. Way back, I was on the Junior Olympic ice-hockey team and I played in college. Today, I play in a league every week. Hockey has been there all these years for me; it keeps me young. I also love it for the camaraderie, the friendships. And no, I don’t keep up the hockey as a way of getting new patients by knocking out other players’ teeth.

Medical tourism is an established trend. Do you see the same thing happening in dentistry?

People will go to Budapest for implants because they cost less, yes, or to India for surgery. People come to the U.S. for medical and dental treatment not because it costs less but because it’s the best care you can get. I have patients who come from the Middle East, Asia, South America, and Europe. But they also come from Connecticut and Westchester! They hear about me from friends or colleagues. 95% of my practice is referral-based—I guess you could say it’s by word of mouth.