Making history is always exciting—but for Gigi Meinecke DMD 88, doing it at her alma mater is even better.
“I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would have an opportunity to [teach the facial injectables course] at my alma mater,” she said. “I can’t express the depth of excitement and pride that I feel.”
In May 2019, Meinecke taught a four-day facial injectables course at GSDM—the first of its kind for predoctoral dental students in the United States.
“By choosing to offer this course, GSDM continues to build a reputation as a forward-thinking institution dedicated to using cutting-edge technology to educate the next generation of oral health professionals,” said Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter.
Meinecke taught the course from Tuesday, April 30, 2019, to Friday, May 3, 2019, at various locations on the GSDM campus, using both lectures and hands-on practice to instruct students in facial injectables. Facial injectables are minimally invasive, non-surgical treatments used to correct and/or harmonize facial asymmetries and deformities as well as the flaws and irregularities associated with aging. The course was offered to 200 third-year DMD and second-year DMD Advanced Standing students.
In lectures, Meinecke touched upon a wide range of topics, including a review of embryology, the cranial nerves, biology of the skin, and biochemistry of different products used in facial injectables. Meinecke also walked students through possible adverse events and how to handle them.
“There’s a lot of basic science associated with the course.,” Meinecke said. “I felt [that] brought a lot to the total understanding, and the approach to doing facial injectables,”
Students also reviewed cranial anatomy using three cephaluses, on which Meinecke had performed facial dissections.
“Many of [the students] haven’t seen a cadaver since two or three years ago—maybe in some cases longer,” Meinecke said.”[It’s] really a good review.”
In the hands-on portion of the course, students rolled up their sleeves and started working with injections, which Meinecke said is not difficult to learn for dental students.
“Dentists, to be quite honest, are very good at injections—they probably give more injections than any other healthcare practitioner out there,” she said.
“Because dental students understand the anatomy, once they understand how deep the muscle is, or how superficial it is, or what plane they need to be in…the [learning] curve is not steep.”
Students also learned how to work with Kybella, also known as deoxycholic acid, an injectable for double chin treatment.
“For Kybella, there’s a grid you have to apply so that you know where your dosing is, and where you place your needles,” Meinecke explained. Students practiced applying the grid on each other’s necks and chins.
“If you can get a really good grid placement on that area you’re going to inject, the rest of it is extremely easy,” Meinecke said.
Meinecke praised Dean Hutter for his commitment to bringing new methods of dental education to GSDM.
“This [course] is a product of the most forward-thinking dean that I’ve ever had exposure to,” she said.
Meinecke said that she had originally approached a dental school some years ago in regards to teaching a facial injectable course, but found them less receptive to the idea.
“I got moved around through the cycles, and I got the sense that they were not committed to it,” she said.
Years later, however, Meinecke taught a course at the Academy of General Dentistry’s annual Scientific Session. Dean Hutter stopped by and observed.
“He said…we really need to talk about having this as part of the curriculum,” Meinecke remembered.
The University approved the course at the end of 2018, and it was held for the first time this semester. The course will be held annually going forward.
Meinecke said that she hoped to instill a sense of excitement in the students regarding facial injectables with the course.
“I wasn’t there to sell them on this,” she said. “I was there to deliver all the information and have them come to their own decision as to whether this was something they were interested in. I hope they were able to see my enthusiasm for this…..I hope they continue to move down the path [of facial injectables] if they have the excitement that I have for this realm in our field.”
Meinecke received her RN and BSN from the College of New Jersey and her DMD from GSDM in 1988. She is a clinical associate in the GSDM Department of General Dentistry, president elect of the GSDM alumni board, the chair of the ADA Council on Communications, and is currently serving on the Academy of General Dentistry’s Dental Practice Council, Social Media Task Force, and as a consultant for the Legislative and Governmental Affairs Council. She was also the keynote speaker at the 2018 GSDM commencement convocation.
She has been teaching courses on Botox and dermal fillers nationally since 2010 and is a leading figure in cosmetic and facial esthetic procedures as she maintains a general dentistry practice in Potomac, Maryland.