Smile Makeover Costs
"Smile makeover" isn't one treatment. It's a plan built from several, so the most useful answer to "how much?" is a set of worked examples. Below are five typical plans with our guide fees, and an explanation of what decides which would suit you.
How Much Does a Smile Makeover Cost in Edinburgh?
A smile makeover at Comely Bank Dental in Edinburgh can be as simple as whitening at £450 or as involved as porcelain veneers from £800 per tooth combined with implants, so the cost depends on what your plan includes. Larger cases start with smile design at £250 and often a trial smile at £250, and every fee is set out in a written plan before treatment begins.
How Much Does a Smile Makeover Cost in Edinburgh?
It depends on how many teeth are involved and which treatments you need. At one end, whitening alone is £450. At the other, a plan combining porcelain veneers from £800 per tooth with an implant and crown at £2,900 is a significant investment. Most plans sit somewhere in between.
A smile makeover is simply a plan that combines treatments to change how your smile looks: colour, shape, alignment, gaps or missing teeth. The examples below show how we put those plans together at our practice in Comely Bank, in north Edinburgh, and what each element costs. Real plans rarely match an example exactly, so your own written plan will list every item, and the total, before you commit to anything.
What Decides Which Plan Is Right for You?
Before talking about treatments, we look at four things:
- Health first. Decay, gum disease or a failing filling needs treating before any cosmetic work, and that care is priced separately.
- What actually bothers you. Colour, chipped edges, crowding, gaps, worn or short teeth, a missing tooth, or old crowns that don't match. Each points towards a different treatment.
- How much tooth you're willing to lose. Whitening, bonding and aligners remove little or no tooth. Porcelain veneers need a thin layer of enamel removed, which can't be undone. Crowns remove more.
- Your bite and habits. Grinding, an edge-to-edge bite, or biting nails or pens can shorten the life of bonding and veneers, and may mean a night guard is part of the plan.
Time matters too. Whitening takes a few weeks, bonding can often be done in one or two visits, Invisalign usually takes months, and implants need time to heal.
Talk Through Your Smile
Book a consultation to discuss what you'd like to change. We'll explain the options that suit your teeth and give you a written plan with every fee before anything starts.
Example 1: Hygiene, Airflow and Whitening
Suits: teeth that are healthy and reasonably straight but look dull or stained, where you'd like the gentlest possible change.
The plan: a hygiene visit at £90 with Airflow polishing at £30 to lift surface staining, followed by whitening at £450.
Why start here: a thorough clean and whitening sometimes gives people most of what they wanted. If not, nothing has been lost, and bonding or veneers can still follow.
Worth knowing: whitening doesn't change the colour of existing fillings, crowns or veneers, which may need replacing afterwards to match. Some people have temporary sensitivity during whitening.
Example 2: Whitening Plus Bonding on Six Front Teeth
Suits: teeth that are fairly straight but have chipped or uneven edges, small gaps or slightly different lengths.
The plan: whitening at £450, then composite bonding at £300 per tooth on the six upper front teeth.
Why this order: bonding doesn't lighten with whitening, so we whiten first and match the bonding to your new shade, usually after a short wait for the colour to settle.
What to expect: in most cases the composite is added to the tooth without drilling, then shaped by hand and polished. It typically lasts several years with care, but it can stain or chip and will need polishing and occasional repair. Results vary. See composite bonding.
Example 3: Invisalign First, Then Bonding
Suits: crowded, overlapping or rotated teeth, where bonding or veneers alone would mean building out teeth that sit in the wrong place.
The plan: Invisalign at £3,000, then bonding at £300 per tooth on whichever teeth still need reshaping once they're straight. Whitening at £450 can be added before the bonding.
Why this order: straightening first means teeth can be reshaped with less material, or none, and the result tends to look more natural. Some people are happy once their teeth are straight and decide against bonding altogether.
What to expect: Invisalign here is led by Dr Jonathan Wardell, an Invisalign Diamond Apex Provider every year from 2022 to 2026, a status held by the top 1% of Invisalign providers in Europe. Refinements and Vivera retainers are included. Treatment time depends on how far teeth need to move, often several months to a year or more, and retainers need to be worn long term.
Example 4: Porcelain Veneers on Eight Teeth
Suits: discolouration that whitening can't shift, heavily filled or worn teeth, or a wish for a broader, more even smile where the change is too large for bonding to last well.
The plan: smile design at £250, a trial smile at £250, then porcelain veneers from £800 per tooth on the eight most visible upper teeth. Some people whiten their lower teeth first, at £450, so everything matches.
Why eight: in a broad smile, the teeth behind the canines show. Treating only four or six can leave a visible step in colour or shape, although for some smiles six is enough.
What to expect: veneers usually need a thin layer of enamel removed, which is permanent, so they're a lifelong commitment and will need replacing at some point, often after ten years or more with good care. Porcelain resists staining well. If you grind, a night guard at £220 helps protect them. Dr Davinder Kalsi has a special interest in porcelain veneers and smile design. See veneers.
Example 5: Dental Implants with Veneers
Suits: a missing front tooth, or one that can't be saved, where you'd also like the neighbouring teeth improved so the whole smile matches.
The plan: a 3D CT scan at £160 to plan the implant, an implant and crown at £2,900 for each missing tooth, smile design at £250, and porcelain veneers from £800 per tooth on the teeth either side. If the bone has shrunk, a bone graft may be needed, from £598.
Why the sequence matters: the implant goes in first and is left to heal, usually for a few months, typically with a temporary tooth in the gap. The implant crown and veneers are then made together so colour and shape match.
What to expect: implants are led by Dr Davinder Kalsi, who has placed over 2,000 implants over more than ten years (from our practice records). We use MegaGen AnyRidge implants, planned on the CT scan and placed through a 3D-printed guide with the MegaGen R2 guided surgery system. The implant consultation is free. See dental implants.
What Are Smile Design and a Trial Smile?
For larger plans, especially veneers, it helps to see the result before committing.
Smile design (£250) uses photographs, an iTero 3D scan of your teeth and measurements of your face to plan the shape, length and proportions of the new teeth. It lets us discuss the result in concrete terms, rather than words like "natural" or "bright" that mean different things to different people.
A trial smile (£250) turns that design into a temporary tooth-coloured mock-up placed over your own teeth, with no drilling. You can look at it in a mirror, smile and talk with it, and take photographs before anything permanent is done. If something isn't right, the design is changed.
They're often unnecessary for straightforward bonding, where the bonding itself can be adjusted, and particularly useful before porcelain veneers.
Who Isn't a Smile Makeover Right For?
A smile makeover may not be the right step if:
- you have active gum disease or decay, which needs treating first
- you grind heavily and wouldn't wear a night guard
- the change you want would mean removing a lot of healthy tooth when a gentler option would do most of the job
- you're hoping for one exact result; teeth, gums and faces differ, and results vary
Sometimes the honest recommendation is less treatment, not more. Straightening, whitening or replacing one old crown can make a bigger difference than people expect, and we're happy to talk through each option.
How Are Fees Agreed?
After your consultation you'll receive a written treatment plan listing each treatment, the number of teeth and the fee for each, so you can see exactly how the total is made up. Fees are agreed in writing before treatment starts, and nothing is added without your agreement.
Some plans can be done in stages, for example whitening now and bonding later, or Invisalign first with a decision about bonding afterwards. Members of our dental plan save 10% on most private treatment, and the plan spreads the cost of routine care.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.