Patient stories
Claire from Christchurch — 10 Emax Press smile makeover before her 50th
Real patient story — a Christchurch physiotherapist travels to Picasso Dental Clinic in Ho Chi Minh City for a 10 Emax Press veneer smile makeover at the May 2026 NZD price. NZD 6,000 clinical cost.
Claire, 49, a Christchurch physiotherapist, travelled to Picasso Dental Clinic in Ho Chi Minh City for a 10 Emax Press veneer smile makeover — NZD 6,000 clinical cost (May 2026 Picasso price list, 1 NZD = 15,000 VND), 10-day single trip with the design locked during the Portrait Sitting on day 2.
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.
Claire is 49, a Christchurch physiotherapist, and she set herself a deadline: she wanted to walk into her 50th birthday with a smile she did not feel she had to hide in photos. Years of strong morning coffee had dulled the colour, and two front teeth had worn unevenly and chipped at the edges, so whitening alone was never going to fix it. A Christchurch private clinic had quoted her in the NZD 15,000 to NZD 25,000 range for a full upper makeover — call it NZD 20,000 in the middle — and she put it off for another year.
When she finally sent photographs one Sunday night, she expected a sales pitch. Instead we returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: 10 Emax Press veneers at NZD 600 per tooth, total NZD 6,000 (May 2026 Picasso price list, 1 NZD = 15,000 VND), with a 7-year warranty.
What she wanted the makeover to actually do
Claire was clear in the post-trip survey that she wanted two things at once, not one: “I didn’t just want whiter teeth, I wanted them to look like they hadn’t been chipped and worn down. But I also didn’t want a Hollywood billboard smile on a 50-year-old physio. I work with patients all day — it had to look like me, just rested.”
The pre-trip conversation worked through what that meant clinically:
- Shade: rather than bleaching natural teeth that would drift back over time, the target colour is built into the porcelain. We talked her down from the brightest shade to one half a step warmer so it would sit naturally with her skin tone.
- Shape: the worn, chipped edges would be rebuilt to a length and contour that suited her face, not a stock template. We sent the Turkey teeth explained page so she could see why over-aggressive preparation on otherwise healthy teeth is the wrong path.
- Recourse: a written warranty, travel reimbursement if a re-do were ever needed, and a New Zealand follow-up care note for her own dentist.
She booked her flights about a month out.
The 10-day trip
| Day | What happened |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | CHC to SGN via Auckland and Singapore. Late evening arrival, hotel check-in in Thao Dien. |
| Day 2 | Consultation 9:30 — photographs, OPG, iTero digital scan. Portrait Sitting design session in the afternoon: shade, edge shape, length, midline, and how much to brighten. |
| Day 3 | Preparation appointment, 0.3 to 0.5 mm enamel reduction across 10 upper teeth. Temporaries fitted to the agreed design. |
| Days 4–7 | Temporaries phase. We asked her to live with them, eat normally, and report anything off about speech or bite. She came in on day 5 to soften the canine edges slightly. |
| Day 8 | Final fit, around 3.5 hours. Bonding, occlusion check, photographs. |
| Day 9 | Review appointment, 30 minutes. Polish and a final bite re-check. |
| Day 10 | Fly home, SGN to CHC. |
The Portrait Sitting was the step Claire rated highest. “I assumed they’d just whack on whatever shape and shade and that was that. Sitting down for an hour deciding the length and how white was too white — that’s where I stopped being nervous.”
What it cost end-to-end
| Line item | NZD |
|---|---|
| 10 Emax Press veneers (clinical) | 6,000 |
| Consultation + OPG + iTero | included |
| Return flight Christchurch to Ho Chi Minh City | 2,100 |
| Hotel — 10 nights, mid-range | 1,000 |
| Food and local transport | 550 |
| Total | 9,650 |
Against the Christchurch benchmark of NZD 15,000 to NZD 25,000 for a full upper makeover, the gross saving was NZD 9,000 to NZD 19,000, and the net saving after travel was roughly NZD 5,350 to NZD 15,350.
She used 6 days of annual leave, with the trip bridging two weekends.
The thing she didn’t expect
In her words: “What caught me out was how much the temporaries told me. For two days I kept catching myself in the bathroom mirror trying to decide if the front two were a fraction too long. I almost talked myself out of saying anything because they were only temporary. When I finally mentioned it on day five they shortened them in fifteen minutes — and the final veneers were made to match. I’m so glad I spoke up instead of staying polite.”
We have folded that prompt into the patient pre-trip pack: the temporaries are not just a placeholder, they are the rehearsal. Real patient stories like Claire’s are how we find those gaps.
What aftercare looked like back in Christchurch
Claire booked her own NZ dentist before she flew, so the post-trip check was already confirmed. About five weeks after returning, her dentist reviewed the occlusion and bonding and signed the case off. We received a copy of the report and added it to her file.
She has had one 6-monthly check since, which was clean, and her year-1 review is scheduled.
Claire’s three pieces of advice
From her survey response:
- “Decide what ’natural’ means to you before the Portrait Sitting. As a physio I’m around people’s faces all day, so I knew I didn’t want anything that screamed work-done. Saying that out loud changed the shade we picked.”
- “Don’t treat the temporaries as throwaway. They’re the only chance to test-drive the shape on your own face. Walk around, talk, eat, then tell them exactly what to change.”
- “Pad the trip with a couple of slow days. I’d built mine around the birthday and was glad I wasn’t rushing between the final fit and the flight home with a freshly bonded smile.”
See also
- Smile makeover pillar — the design protocol, materials, and NZD pricing.
- Veneer care tips — what Claire was told for keeping the new smile in shape at home.
- Christchurch to Vietnam smile makeover 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.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claire a real patient?
Yes. Claire is a real Picasso Dental Clinic patient who has given written permission for us to share their experience with other New Zealand patients considering treatment. Treatment, material/brand, NZD price, and timeline are accurate to the case archive.
What did the smile makeover cost in NZD?
10 Emax Press veneers at NZD 600 per tooth = NZD 6,000 total clinical cost (May 2026 Picasso price list, 1 NZD = 15,000 VND). This excludes flights, accommodation, and any pre-trip work.
Can a smile makeover whiten teeth as well as reshape them?
Yes — with a veneer-based makeover the new shade is built into the porcelain, so the final colour does not rely on bleaching the natural teeth. Claire chose a brighter-than-natural shade during the Portrait Sitting and the lab matched all 10 veneers to it, which is why the result reads as both whitened and reshaped.
What warranty applies?
7-year warranty on Emax Press veneers from Picasso. Manufacturer warranty applies in parallel. The warranty covers fracture or debonding not caused by trauma or untreated bruxism. See the full /warranty/ page for tier-by-tier terms.