‘No integrity’: Larry Benge hits out at 3AW for pulling him from the airwaves
Dentist Larry Benge has slammed 3AW for having “no integrity” after they dumped him from the airwaves to make way for Melbourne’s new dentist to the stars.
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Don’t be fooled by the flashy veneers: behind the pearly whites our dentists-to-the-stars are all bite.
Dr Larry Benge has long been known as the man behind the smiling ivories of our homegrown heroes. Shane Warne’s shining whites were all down to Dr Benge. The spin king’s cosmetic clackers even had their own patent.
Eddie McGuire’s famous smile, singer Tottie Goldsmith, former Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt and model Kris Smith, they are all grinning like Cheshire cats thanks to Dr Benge.
Revolutionising cosmetic dentistry in Melbourne after bringing “all-on-four” implants to Australia, Dr Benge has built a loyal following with his long-running radio segments with Denis Walter and advertisements with 3AW.
For more than 20 years, Dr Benge was aligned with the radio station, providing dental health advice, bringing in “millions” in advertising revenue. Then 3AW gave him an almighty kick in the teeth.
Dr Benge says 20 years of loyalty and advertising has come down to nothing, with 3AW dumping him from their airwaves earlier this year.
He says the radio station has lost its integrity and is only looking for the bottom line, after he was scrapped for new dentist on the block, Dental Boutique. Dental Boutique’s Dr Reuben Sim has been dubbed the a rising star in the dentistry world.
“It’s a shame what 3AW has become since the Nine Network bought it. It’s become just a commercial base with no integrity,” Dr Benge lamented.
After seeing primetime advertisements for his Next Smile dental practice dwindling and pushed back to the graveyard hours, Dr Benge put in a call to the network’s managing director Tom Malone. Dr Benge said he was assured by an apologetic Malone that his loyalty meant something and that the network would look after him.
“I spoke to Tom Malone up in Sydney who was very nice, he said, ‘sorry Larry that’s not how 3AW operates, that’s not the policy at this station’,” Dr Benge said.
After a couple of months of free airtime and digital advertising space, Dr Benge was almost back smiling.
But then Dr Benge said 3AW had told him Dental Boutique considered him a “thorn in their side” and wanted him pulled from the airwaves.
“I had a pretty heated conversation with Tom where I said, ‘is this some sort of mistake’ and he said, ‘well, it’s commercial, Larry’.”
3AW said it would only continue to work with him if he matched Dental Boutique’s $1.26m a year advertising contract, understood to be four times what Dr Benge was paying.
“They said, ‘we want Larry Benge off’. So 3AW came to me and said, ‘do you want to match it? $1.26m a year?’
“I said, ‘forget about it, I’m not interested, what about the fact you’ve got a loyalty for 20 years’. So much for being an unbiased station that can’t be bought.”
Dr Benge said loyalty was one thing, but he was concerned 3AW listeners might not be getting the best in dental health advice.
Dental Boutique’s Dr Sim told Page 13 the deal with 3AW was “all about business” and that he held no personal animosity with Dr Benge.
Expanding from his successful Bond St practice in South Yarra to leafy Hawthorn, Dr Benge says he has seen others come and go. “I said to Tom Malone, ‘be careful, this may come back to bite you’,” Dr Benge said.
Malone isn’t biting back. Instead, he has thanked Dr Benge for his longtime support, wishing him well.
“We were sorry to end our association with Larry. He’s a great bloke. But at the end of the day it was a commercial decision and we have to act in the best interest of our business.
“We wish him all the best,” Malone told Page 13, which brought to mind a quote from Mother Teresa.
“Peace begins with a smile.”
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