Daniel from Auckland — 6 Emax Press veneers

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.

Daniel is a sales manager in Auckland, in his late thirties, and he spends most of his working week in front of people — pitching, presenting, shaking hands. For years that was fine. Then a stray elbow in a Saturday club rugby game chipped two of his upper front teeth, one badly enough that the edge looked jagged in photos, and left a hairline crack in a third. None of it was an emergency. All of it sat right in the middle of his smile, and he had started covering his mouth when he laughed. An Auckland private clinic quoted him roughly NZD 12,000 to rebuild the line of his front teeth with veneers — a fair price for the work, but more than he wanted to spend repairing a weekend injury. He sent us photos. We returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: 6 Emax Press veneers at NZD 600 per tooth = NZD 3,600 (May 2026 Picasso price list, 1 NZD = 15,000 VND), with a 7-year warranty.

What he wanted decided before booking

In his words from the post-trip survey: “I had two questions before I’d get on a plane — would they shave my teeth down to stumps, and would these things actually hold up when I keep playing rugby?”

The pre-trip conversation answered both:

• Preparation: conservative enamel reduction, only enough to seat the veneers cleanly. We sent him the Turkey teeth explained page so he could see why aggressive crown-prep on healthy teeth is the wrong answer for a case like his.
• Material: Emax Press, a pressed lithium-disilicate ceramic chosen here for strength, with the recommendation to wear a custom sports mouthguard over the front teeth for games.
• Scope: 6 units rather than only the directly chipped teeth, so the final result blended in width, shade and shape instead of leaving two obviously “new” teeth beside older ones.

The 10-day trip

The gap between the scan and the bond is deliberate. It gives the ceramist time to finish the veneers properly and gives the patient days to test-drive the temporaries before anything is permanent.

What it cost end-to-end

Against the Auckland benchmark of around NZD 9,000 to 15,000 for comparable veneer work, the gross saving on the clinical fee alone was NZD 5,400 to 11,400, and the net saving after travel and stay was roughly NZD 2,050 to 8,050. The clinical total for Daniel’s treatment was NZD 3,600. He used 6 days of annual leave, with the trip overlapping a weekend.

The thing he didn’t expect

In his words: “The part that threw me wasn’t the dentistry — it was the gap between appointments. I’d braced myself for an awkward few days stuck in a hotel. Instead I walked the Old Quarter every morning and had the best short holiday I’ve taken in years. I came for teeth and accidentally got a proper break.”

Real patient stories like this one are how we learn what to tell the next patient: budget the in-between days as part of the trip, not as waiting time.

What aftercare looked like back in Auckland

Daniel booked a check with his own NZ dentist before he flew, so it was confirmed for four weeks after the trip. His dentist reviewed the bite and bonding and signed the case off; we received a copy of the report for his file. His finished sports mouthguard was fitted at that same visit. He has had one 6-month check since, clean, and is fitted with the guard for every game now.

Daniel’s three pieces of advice

From his survey response:

1. “Send a real photo, not a flattering one. The first reply I got was about which teeth to fix, not a sales pitch, and that settled my nerves more than anything.”
2. “Tell them how you actually live. I still play rugby and I asked straight out if veneers would survive it — that one question shaped the whole material choice and got me a mouthguard I’d never have thought to ask for.”
3. “Treat the days between appointments as the holiday, not dead time. I nearly tried to cram work into them. Don’t — let the trip be a trip.”

See also

• Veneers pillar — the protocol, materials, and NZD pricing.
• Veneer care tips — what Daniel was told for home maintenance.
• How long do veneers last — longevity by material.
• Auckland to Vietnam veneers travel page — local benchmark and route logistics.

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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.