Phuong from Auckland — 10 Emax Press smile makeover

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.

Phuong is a doctor in her mid-40s in Auckland, and she approached the whole thing like a clinician — politely sceptical, with a list of questions. Her own teeth were not failing. The problem was a row of older composite restorations on her upper front teeth that had stained unevenly over a decade, plus two short, worn laterals that made her smile look narrower than it once had. An Auckland private clinic had quoted her around NZD 20,000 for a full upper smile makeover, the midpoint of a NZD 15,000 to NZD 25,000 range she had been given.

She emailed us clinical photos and her own notes on what bothered her. We returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: 10 Emax Press units at NZD 600 per unit = NZD 6,000 (May 2026 Picasso price list, 1 NZD = 15,000 VND), with a 7-year warranty on the ceramic.

Judging the lab, not the price

Phuong did her due diligence the way a doctor would. In her words from the post-trip survey: “Cheap is a warning sign to me, not a selling point. I wanted to know exactly which ceramic, who was pressing it, and what happened if a unit did not seat.”

So the pre-trip conversation was technical, not promotional. We confirmed the material was pressed Emax (lithium disilicate), explained the conservative preparation on the teeth that still had sound enamel and full-coverage units where the old composites had already taken too much, and walked her through the warranty and New Zealand follow-up care note. What settled it for her was the lab — once she understood she would see and approve each unit at a try-in before anything was bonded, the distance to Hanoi stopped mattering.

The 10-day trip

The try-in was the step she rated highest. “Being shown the unit before it went in, and being asked to confirm it, rather than being managed around — that is what reassured me,” she wrote.

What it cost end-to-end

Against an Auckland benchmark of NZD 15,000 to NZD 25,000 for a comparable makeover, the gross saving was NZD 9,000 to NZD 19,000, and the net saving after travel was roughly NZD 5,600 to NZD 15,600. Even at the low end the gap was wide enough that she said price stopped being the deciding factor.

The thing she didn’t expect

In her words: “The jet lag floored me harder than I planned for. I am used to running on little sleep at work, but the first 36 hours in the heat caught up with me. I had built the schedule too tight at first. Once I treated the gap days as actual rest instead of sightseeing, I felt human again and the appointments went fine.”

We now flag this in the pre-trip pack for patients flying straight off a busy roster — build in a genuine recovery day before the design appointment.

What aftercare looked like back in Auckland

Phuong scheduled her own NZ check before she flew, so it was confirmed. Her dentist reviewed the occlusion and the bonding at the four-week mark and signed the case off; we received a copy for her file. She is monitoring the work the way she would advise any patient to, with routine 6-monthly checks. Her first one since the trip was clean.

Phuong’s three pieces of advice

From her survey response:

1. “Ask exactly which ceramic is being used and insist on a try-in before final bonding. I am a clinician and I still asked twice — you are entitled to the same answers whoever you are.”
2. “Build in a real rest day before the design appointment. The jet lag is real, and you make better decisions about your own smile when you are not running on empty.”
3. “Judge the lab and the protocol, not the headline price. The saving was large, but what made me commit was understanding who was making my teeth and how revisions were handled.”

See also

• Smile makeover pillar — the design process, materials, and NZD pricing.
• Veneer care tips — what Phuong was told for home maintenance.
• Auckland to Vietnam smile makeover 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.