Lan from Christchurch — 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.

Lan is 39, a Christchurch teacher who spends her days in front of a classroom and had, over the years, learned to laugh with her hand half-raised. Her upper front teeth had worn unevenly and one carried an ageing filling that darkened in photos. A Christchurch private clinic had quoted her around NZD 12,000 for six veneers — a number she kept filing under “next year”. Then a family trip home to Vietnam appeared on the calendar, and the idea of folding the work into a visit she was already making changed the maths entirely.

She sent us five smile photographs one weekend. 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 she wanted to settle before booking

In her words from the post-trip survey: “I teach teenagers, so the last thing I wanted was a smile that looked obviously done. I also didn’t want healthy teeth ground down just to get there, and I needed to know what would happen if a veneer chipped once I was back home.”

The pre-trip conversation focused on those three points:

• Look: a natural result for a front-of-classroom face. Shade, length, and edge shape would be agreed before anything became permanent.
• Preparation: Emax Press veneers use conservative enamel reduction. We sent the Turkey teeth explained page so she could see why aggressive crown-preparations on sound teeth are the wrong trade.
• Recourse: a written 7-year warranty, travel reimbursement terms if a re-do is ever needed, and a New Zealand follow-up care note for her own dentist.

Because the flights were already booked around family time, she only had to confirm her clinic dates.

The trip

Lan was treated at our HCMC Thao Dien branch. The clinical days sat inside a trip she was making anyway, so the lab days became family days.

The design day was the step she rated highest in the survey. “I didn’t realise I’d get to push back on the shape before they were permanent. I asked for the edges to be a touch less rounded and they adjusted it.”

What it cost end-to-end

Against a Christchurch benchmark of NZD 9,000 to NZD 15,000 for six veneers, the gross saving was NZD 5,400 to NZD 11,400, and the net saving after travel was NZD 2,750 to NZD 8,750. Because the trip home was already planned, she counted the flights as a holiday cost she was paying regardless.

The thing she didn’t expect

In her words: “I’d braced for the prep day to be the hard part, but it was the temporaries that surprised me — they felt a little bulky against my lip for the first day and I caught a faint lisp on a couple of words. By the next morning both had settled. Once I asked, the dentist said that’s normal and it would pass, and it did.”

We have noted this in the pre-trip pack. Real patient stories like this one are how we close those gaps.

What aftercare looked like back in Christchurch

Lan booked a check with her own NZ dentist before she flew, scheduled for four weeks after the trip. Her dentist reviewed the bite and signed the case off; we received a copy of that note for her file. She has had one 6-monthly clean since, no issues, with the next check on the calendar.

Lan’s three pieces of advice

From her survey response:

1. “Tell them what you do for a living. I mentioned I talk all day in front of a class, and it genuinely shaped how they chose the length and edge.”
2. “Leave the lab days loose. Don’t pile family dinners onto the days you might be called back for an adjustment — keep them flexible.”
3. “Scan your treatment plan and warranty before you leave. Mine were sitting in one folder back home, so I never had to go hunting for anything.”

See also

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

Request your own free NZD veneers 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.