Amanda from Wellington — 8 Lisi smile makeover, full upper redesign

Real patient story, shared with permission. This patient has consented to Picasso Dental Clinic publishing their experience to help other New Zealand patients. Treatment, material, NZD price, and timeline are accurate to the case archive. Reviewed by Dr. Emily Nguyen, Founding Clinical Director.

Amanda is 39, a Wellington project manager who plans for a living and had finally decided to plan her own smile. Two upper front teeth had darkened after old root-canal work years ago, the edges had chipped and worn into an uneven line, and a gap between the centrals had bugged her since her twenties. She did not want a patch-up — she wanted the whole upper smile zone redesigned at once. A Wellington private clinic had quoted her around NZD 18,000 for a comparable makeover, spread across several appointments over several months. The price stung, but the calendar stung more: she had three weeks of annual leave banked and no appetite for a treatment dragged out across half a year.

She sent us seven close-up photos and two older pictures she liked on a Sunday night. We returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: 8 Lisi units at NZD 800 per tooth = NZD 6,400 (May 2026 Picasso price list, 1 NZD = 15,000 VND), with a 7-year warranty.

How she thought about the design

In her words from the post-trip survey: “I was scared of two outcomes — the uniform, too-white ‘fake teeth’ look, and being talked into something more aggressive than I needed because my front teeth had history.”

The pre-trip conversation focused on the makeover design rather than just the material:

• Design control: the Portrait Sitting is where shade, tooth length, edge shape, midline, and smile-line are agreed before anything is prepared. We told her to bring reference photos of smiles she liked and disliked.
• The two treated teeth: we were upfront that the previously root-treated teeth needed in-person assessment, and that shade would be matched against her own skin tone, not picked from a chart.
• Material: Lisi, a pressed lithium disilicate ceramic — strong enough for daily function and translucent enough to read as real enamel at the front.

She booked the flight a fortnight before the trip.

The 10-day trip

The temporaries phase was the part she rated highest. “I didn’t know you got to test-drive the shape. I went back and asked for a touch less length on the front two — it changed everything and it was a five-minute fix.”

What it cost end-to-end

Against a Wellington benchmark of NZD 16,000 to NZD 20,000 for a comparable makeover, the gross saving was NZD 9,600 to NZD 13,600, and the net saving after travel was NZD 5,900 to NZD 9,900. She used 6 days of annual leave, the trip overlapping two weekends — and unlike the home quote, it was finished before her leave ran out.

The thing she didn’t expect

In her words: “I assumed a makeover would mean walking around looking strange for a week. The temporaries actually looked good — I went out to dinner in them and nobody blinked. What threw me was the bite feeling slightly off on day one of the temporaries, like the teeth met before the rest. I mentioned it, they adjusted it in minutes, and by the next morning it was completely normal.”

We have added a note about first-night bite settling to the patient pre-trip pack. Real patient stories like this one are how we find the gaps.

What aftercare looked like back in Wellington

Amanda’s first follow-up was with her own NZ dentist four weeks after the trip — she booked it before flying so it was locked in. Her dentist reviewed the occlusion and the margins and signed the case off. We received a copy of the report for her file.

She has had one 6-month check since, clean, with the next scheduled. We pointed her to the veneer care tips for home maintenance and a nightguard recommendation, given her old wear pattern.

Amanda’s three pieces of advice

From her survey response:

1. “Count your leave before you book the flight. A makeover needs two visits with a gap between them — build the trip around those days instead of hoping it fits.”
2. “Turn up to the Portrait Sitting with photos. I brought old pictures of my own smile from my twenties and that gave them something concrete to aim at, much better than ‘make it natural’.”
3. “Ask exactly what material goes in and what the warranty is. The clear answer I got there told me more about who I was trusting than any before-and-after gallery.”

See also

• Smile makeover pillar — the design process, materials, and NZD pricing.
• Veneer care tips — what Amanda was told for home maintenance.
• Wellington to Vietnam dental travel page — local benchmark and route logistics.

Request your own free NZD smile makeover quote

About this page

Medically reviewed by

Dr. Emily Nguyen

Founding Clinical Director, Picasso Dental Clinic

DDS · Founder and Clinical Director, Picasso Dental Clinic group

Clinical focus: Cosmetic dentistry · Veneers · Smile design

Dr. Emily Nguyen founded Picasso Dental Clinic in 2013 (originally Serenity International Dental Clinic) and led its 2023 rebrand. She sets clinical standards across the group's six branches in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Lat, and personally reviews cosmetic protocols including the Portrait Sitting workflow for veneers and smile makeovers.

Last clinically reviewed

28 May 2026

Published by

Picasso Dental Clinic

Review policy

Every medical procedure page on this site is reviewed by a named Picasso clinician before publication and re-checked when pricing, materials, or protocols change. Source documents are linked at the bottom of each page.