I had it lucky as a kid, I had perfectly straight teeth.. never needed braces. I did have a fairly large gap between my front two teeth that I never really liked. Some people can pull off this “London” look, but for me I was very self conscious about it… I tried to get it fixed when I was in junior high with braces but the dentist told me that I had a piece of skin, not only gums, between these two teeth and that braces would not fix it.
When I entered into high school one of my friends told me that she got her teeth “bonded” together. Bonding is a non permanent version of veneers I guess… you need to get them re done every couple of years. I went to my dentist to get my front 2 teeth done (which costs about 200-400$ each) and he said that I would need at least the front 4 teeth bonded as my 2 front teeth would be too big, making me look like bugs bunny, beside the other 2 smaller teeth. I wanted my teeth to be fixed so badly that I just saved my money and got my 4 front, top teeth bonded. I LOVED them! I thought they looked so nice, exactly what I wanted! The downside was they only lasted me a little over a year and then one of the front teeth chipped!!!!! WHHHHYYYYY. I have to then get the front 2 re done (as I couldn’t possibly afford all 4 to be replaced). This back and forth and the ever growing cost of bonding my teeth caused me to look into a more permanent solution… veneers.
Veneers are very pricey… they cost about 2000$ per tooth in Canada… My dentist had told me that if I were to go with veneers, he would suggest I get the front SIX teeth done to match each other and give me the perfect smile, instead of just the front 4. Of course… because that made my possible bill 12,000$… and insurance won’t cover it because it is strictly cosmetic. There was no way I could afford that.
The first time I went to Thailand in 2012 we had met a girl who had very small teeth with many spaces between them. She had told us that she was going to a dentist in Bangkok to get Veneers. My first thought was “oh my goodness, what a bad idea!”. She went a few times for a couple hours to meet with the dentist and then it was time for her to get her new teeth. She came back to the hostel that night almost in tears as they had grinded down her real teeth (barley like 0.05 mm just to make them rough enough for the veneers to stick) but she was scared. The next day she went back to the dentist for a few hours and came back with my most beautiful smile I had ever seen in my life. They looked absolutely fantastic!
When I got home I looked more into the process of getting veneers, and sure enough I saw that every dentist grinds your teeth down a little bit. I read many reviews and thought about it for about 4 years after that trip. I was finally going back to Thailand in 2016 so I contacted this girl and asked her how her teeth held up after the trip, has she had any problems, and what did her dentist in Canada say about them and their quality? She told me they were perfect and great quality and gave me the name of her dentist in Bangkok.
I emailed back and forth with this dentist for about 6 months before my trip, I sent dental records, my Xrays, and what I wanted with my teeth. I finally arrived in Thailand and the dentist sent a car to pick me up from the airport, bring me to my room, then come get me again after a few hours for my first consultation. They gave me a dental checkup and asked exactly what I wanted for my teeth. Going off my regular dentist back home I said that I wanted the front 6 teeth done with the highest quality veneers they offered. They took off my bonding and took a mould of my real teeth. I was terrified because I did not want to travel around before I got my veneers with a gap in my teeth, I hated the way it looked and I had not had to deal with it for years… I didn’t want to start on my holidays. After they took the mould they put on temporary bonders (bonding is temporary veneers, but temporary bonding makes your teeth LOOK like they are bonded but it is very flimsy and super temporary). My teeth looked the exact same as when I arrived! So I was very pleased
I continued to travel around the country for the next 2 weeks with these temporary bonded teeth. When I arrived back in Bangkok we stayed in a beautiful apartment supplied by the dentist for about 5 days. We traveled around Bangkok exploring and every few days I would spend a couple hours in the dental chair. I went back to the dentist for about 3 hours and they took off the temporary bonding, set on the new veneers and gave me a mirror. They looked absolutely perfect, everything I wanted. They then grinded down my teeth a little bit and cemented on these new teeth. The whole process this day took about 1.5-2 hours to do. I left and had to go back the next day and the day after that just to make sure the teeth were on properly. Of course they were all good to go and I could not stop smiling.
I had so many nightmares for months afterwards that my teeth would fall out, or they would chip but they never did. I have had them almost a year now and have had no problems. I went back to my regular dentist in Canada, who told me not to go to Thailand to get them done (he wanted my money, probably), for a checkup and he said that he was actually very impressed with them and that they used the exact same quality that he would have used on me.
Here is the kicker guys…. I paid 3200$ for 6 highest quality veneers, the temporary bonding, a teeth cleaning, a taxi service that drove us all around for the total 6 days we were in Bangkok (driving to and from the airport), and the beautiful 2 bedroom apartment with kitchen, gym, pool, and private rooftop, breakfast included, house cleaner and butler.
Do your research. Just because it is in another country does not mean that it is cheaper quality. They cannot even make the veneers in Canada for the price I paid because everyone is paid more than in Thailand. Thailand has a way lower cost of living then us so obviously they don’t need to make as much as we do. I went against so many people telling me to not do it, and I am very happy that I did.
Bright smiles forever ❤
Flashing Glimpse 