Fiona from Wellington — 10 Emax Press smile makeover 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.

Fiona is a Wellington manager in her late fifties. She came to us a few months before stepping into a bigger role — more boardrooms, more presenting, more being the person at the front of the room — and she had reached the point where every photo and every video call sent her eye straight to her teeth. Decades of coffee and red wine had dulled the front teeth, two uppers had worn unevenly, and an old composite on a lateral incisor had picked up a grey margin. Nothing hurt. She had simply started planning her expressions around her smile, and that quiet self-editing had become tiring. A Wellington private clinic had quoted her around NZD 20,000 for a comparable makeover.

She sent us a set of smile photos on a Sunday. We returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: 10 Emax Press veneers at NZD 600 per tooth = NZD 6,000 (May 2026 Picasso price list, 1 NZD = 15,000 VND), with a 7-year warranty.

What she wanted from the design

Fiona was clear that she did not want a different face — she wanted the smile she felt she used to have. Her biggest worry was ending up with something obviously artificial: too white, too uniform, the kind of result that announces itself before she does.

The pre-trip conversation focused on three things:

• Material: Emax Press, a pressed lithium disilicate chosen for strength and the natural way it transmits light.
• Shade: one step brighter than her natural teeth, well short of the whitest option on the chart, to read as natural in ordinary rooms and on camera.
• Foundation first: we confirmed her gum health and bite were sound before discussing anything cosmetic, because a makeover only lasts if what sits underneath it is stable.

She booked the flight a month out.

The 10-day trip

The temporaries phase was the step she rated highest in the survey. “I had no idea you could change the shape before anything was permanent. I asked for the edges to be a touch less rounded and they did it. That one small change is the reason it looks like me.”

What it cost end-to-end

Against the NZD 20,000 quoted by a Wellington private clinic — within the typical NZD 15,000 to 25,000 local range for this scope — the gross saving was around NZD 14,000, and the net saving after travel was roughly NZD 10,300. Compared with the low end of the range, she still saved at least NZD 9,000 on clinical cost alone.

She used 6 days of annual leave; the trip overlapped two weekends.

The thing she didn’t expect

In her words: “I braced myself for the cosmetic difference, but not for what it did to how I carry myself in a meeting. I stopped rehearsing my face before I spoke. The energy I used to spend hiding my teeth just went back into the room. The first thing a colleague said when I started the new role was that I seemed more relaxed — not that my teeth looked different. That was exactly what I wanted.”

What aftercare looked like back in Wellington

Fiona booked her follow-up with her own NZ dentist before she flew, and the appointment went ahead about 4 weeks after the trip. Her dentist reviewed the bite and the margins and signed the case off. We received a copy of the notes and added them to her file along with her shade record and material specification.

She has had one 6-monthly hygiene check since, which was clean, and her next is scheduled. She wears no night guard as no grinding was found, but we flagged that as the one thing to watch for over the warranty period.

Fiona’s three pieces of advice

From her survey response:

1. “Do it before the milestone, not as a reward for getting there. I waited until the role was almost certain, and I wish I had walked in already comfortable. The confidence going in was worth more than any after-the-fact treat.”
2. “Choose the shade in daylight, not under a clinic light. I am so glad I went a step brighter and natural rather than the whitest option. On camera it reads as me, just rested.”
3. “Treat the temporaries as a real test. Speak in them, eat in them, take a few photos. That is your one window to change the shape before the ceramics are made.”

See also

• Smile makeover pillar — how cases are planned, the materials, and NZD pricing.
• Veneer care tips — what Fiona 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.