By Dr. Gregg Barry — Published 15 May 2026 | Pricing reviewed and updated 30 July 2026
Every now and then a case comes through the door that needs more than one set of hands. The patient sat in front of us with a smile that had been quietly failing for years — old crowns coming loose, infection brewing underneath, the kind of situation where you can’t really do the cosmetic work until you’ve sorted the foundations. They wanted a smile that looked like their own again. We were honest with them: this wasn’t going to be a single appointment, and it wasn’t going to be done by one person. It was going to take a proper team.
This post is a full walk-through of that kind of case — what a “smile makeover” actually involves when you’re starting from failing teeth rather than perfectly healthy ones, who does what, how we sequence the treatment, and what it ends up costing. It’s the most useful version of this conversation we can have in writing, and it’s the version we wish more practices were upfront about. There are no shortcuts here, and pretending otherwise just sets people up for disappointment.
What does a “smile makeover” actually involve in Dublin when you’re starting with failing teeth?
A complete smile makeover in Dublin starting from failing front teeth typically costs €15,000 to €30,000+ and runs across 6 to 12 months, combining specialist implant surgery, an implant-supported bridge or crowns, and feldspathic porcelain veneers on the remaining teeth.
The phrase “smile makeover” gets thrown around a lot, and most of the time it means a set of veneers. That’s perfectly fine when you’re starting with healthy teeth that just need their shape and colour rethought. But it’s a completely different proposition when the front teeth have failing restorations underneath them, or worse, an active infection.
In a case like that — and this is what we’re describing here — the makeover has three distinct phases. First, you remove the source of the problem. That usually means taking out the failing teeth or crowns and clearing any infection. Second, you replace what’s missing properly, which more often than not means dental implants placed by a specialist oral surgeon, followed by a healing period and then an implant-supported restoration. Third, you do the cosmetic work on the rest of the smile — usually a small number of feldspathic porcelain veneers to bring the surrounding teeth into harmony with the new restoration.
The reason we explain this at the start is simple. If you’ve spent any time looking at smile makeover photos online, you’ll have seen plenty of dramatic before-and-afters. What you don’t always see is the work underneath. A bonded veneer on a healthy tooth is one thing. An implant-retained bridge, designed to sit alongside feldspathic veneers and look like it belongs there, is something else entirely. The aesthetic result depends almost completely on the quality of the foundation that goes in first.
Why does a complex case like this need more than one dentist?
Complex Dublin smile makeover cases involving implants and cosmetic veneers usually require collaboration between a specialist oral surgeon (for the surgical placement) and a restorative cosmetic dentist (for the final aesthetic work) — two distinct skill sets that take years to develop separately.
This is the part that often surprises people, so let’s be honest about it. Dentistry has specialties for the same reason medicine does. Oral surgery — including specialist implant placement — is a recognised clinical specialty in Ireland. Cosmetic restorative work, especially with feldspathic porcelain, is a separate craft that takes a different kind of training and a different daily focus. Both can be done well by the same dentist in some cases, but in the more complex situations the better outcome usually comes from collaboration.
For the case we’re describing, the surgical phase — extracting the failing teeth, managing the infection, placing the implants — was carried out by Dr. Marie O’Neill, FFD (OS) RCSI, at ISCD (the Institute of Specialist and Cosmetic Dentistry), our specialist referral clinic in the IFSC. Dr. O’Neill is a specialist oral surgeon, registered with the Dental Council of Ireland in oral surgery, and she places implants for cases referred to her by general practices across Dublin. That’s her daily clinical work.
The restorative phase — designing the implant-retained bridge, planning the smile, selecting and bonding the feldspathic veneers — was done at Docklands Dental. That’s our daily clinical work. We co-plan complex cases like this one with the ISCD team from the start so the surgical positioning of the implants is right for the eventual aesthetic outcome. (An implant placed in the perfect position for the bone isn’t always in the perfect position for the smile design. Getting these conversations right at the planning stage is where multidisciplinary care earns its keep.)
If you’re being seen for a complex case in a single-discipline practice, it’s worth asking who is doing what. That’s not a question designed to catch anyone out — it’s a question that should have a clear, honest answer. The best practices in Dublin will tell you exactly which clinician is responsible for which part of your treatment.
How do you decide what to do first — the surgery or the cosmetic work?
The correct sequence for a Dublin smile makeover involving implants is almost always surgery and healing first, followed by the implant-supported restoration, and only then the surrounding cosmetic veneers — typically a 6 to 9 month process from extraction to final smile.
Sequencing is where genuine clinical experience shows itself, and it’s something most patients don’t think to ask about. The order of operations matters enormously, and getting it wrong is one of the few mistakes in cosmetic dentistry that’s genuinely difficult to come back from. The same principle applies in cases with no implants at all — where teeth need straightening before any porcelain goes on, we put the orthodontics first, for exactly the same reason.
Here’s how we approached this case, and how we approach cases like it.
Step 1 — Diagnostics and design. Before anything is removed or placed, we plan the whole thing on paper (and on screen). Photographs, scans, study models, sometimes a digital smile design. The end-result smile is designed first, and then we work backwards to figure out what needs to happen to get there. This is the bit that takes the longest in any complex case, and it’s the part that most strongly predicts how good the final result will be.
Step 2 — Surgical phase at ISCD. Failing teeth and infection are dealt with first. Dr. O’Neill placed the implants under the conditions a specialist oral surgeon prefers — sterile setup, careful positioning, sometimes grafting if the bone needs supporting. The patient then goes through a healing period (typically three to six months) during which the implants integrate into the bone. We don’t shortcut this. The temptation to rush to the final smile is real, but implants need time.
Step 3 — Provisional restorations. While the implants are healing, the patient doesn’t go around with gaps. We use provisional restorations that look acceptable and let them eat and talk normally. These also let us test the proposed smile design — the patient lives with the temporaries for a while and tells us what they think.
Step 4 — Implant-supported restoration. Once the implants are fully integrated, the final implant-retained bridge or crowns are fitted. The shade and shape of these are designed to match what the eventual feldspathic veneers will look like, not the current state of the surrounding teeth.
Step 5 — Feldspathic porcelain veneers on the surrounding teeth. This is the final aesthetic step. With the implant work in place and the foundation set, we move on to the teeth on either side. (More on why we use feldspathic specifically in a moment.)
This sequence is not interchangeable. You can’t place veneers on the teeth either side of a future implant site and then go back and do the surgery — the proportions would be off. You can’t place a fixed restoration on an implant before it has integrated. And you can’t pick the final shade of porcelain until the implant work is in. Doing things out of order is where cases unravel.
What did the surgical phase actually involve?
The surgical phase of a complex Dublin smile makeover typically includes extracting failing teeth, managing existing infection, placing dental implants under specialist conditions, and a 3 to 6 month healing period before the final restoration can be fitted.
The surgical phase of this case was the part that needed Dr. O’Neill’s specialist training. The patient came in with old crowns that had been failing slowly, and there was active infection in the bone underneath. That had to be addressed first — you can’t build a beautiful new smile on top of an infected foundation.
At ISCD, the failing teeth and crowns were carefully removed. The infected tissue was debrided. Implants were planned and placed with the eventual restoration in mind — meaning the angle and depth of each implant was chosen with the final tooth position already designed. This is where surgical-restorative co-planning pays off. An implant that’s placed for surgical convenience but in the wrong position for the final crown creates a compromise the patient lives with for the rest of their life.
Implant success rates in cases like this are reassuringly high when the work is done well. A 2024 meta-analysis in Clinical Oral Investigations found that dental implant survival rates exceed 90% at 10 years, with approximately 4 out of 5 implants still functioning well after 20 years. Those numbers are population averages — for cases placed by specialist surgeons in healthy patients with adequate bone, the outcomes are typically at the upper end of that range.
After placement, the implants need time to osseointegrate — the process where bone grows up tight against the surface of the implant and locks it in. That takes around 3 to 6 months depending on the case. During this time the patient wears temporary restorations and gets on with their life. It’s a wait, but it’s a wait that protects the long-term outcome.
Why feldspathic porcelain for the final cosmetic work?
Feldspathic porcelain veneers, layered by a master ceramicist, achieve survival rates above 90% at 15 to 20 years when bonded to enamel, and produce the most lifelike translucency of any restorative ceramic — at typical Dublin costs of €1,200 per veneer.
This is the part of the case that most affects how the final smile actually looks, and it’s the part that practices rarely talk about honestly. The material used for cosmetic veneers makes a much bigger difference than most patients are told.
Most cosmetic veneers in Ireland are made from lithium disilicate — usually known by the brand name e.max. It’s a strong, modern ceramic, it’s more forgiving to work with, and it produces a perfectly acceptable result in most cases. We use it ourselves where it’s the right choice. But it isn’t the most aesthetically capable material available, and we should be honest about that.
Feldspathic porcelain is the most translucent restorative ceramic in dentistry. It’s hand-layered by a master ceramicist — small portions of porcelain powder mixed with liquid, applied one at a time, fired in a furnace, and built up gradually to mimic the way light moves through real enamel. The depth, the colour gradient, the way the incisal edge picks up light — these are the things that make a tooth look alive rather than uniform. You can spot a feldspathic restoration that’s been done well because it doesn’t look like a row of identical teeth. (We wrote more about this in our recent honest comparison between feldspathic and e.max veneers, if you want to go deeper.)
The trade-off is honest. Feldspathic takes longer to fabricate, requires a skilled ceramicist (which is why we work with the laboratories we do), and the technique-sensitivity of placing it is high — meaning the dentist has to use proper isolation, the right bonding protocol, and meticulous attention to detail. Most practices don’t routinely offer it for those reasons. We do because the aesthetic difference, especially in a smile-makeover case where the restorations are sitting next to natural teeth, is worth the work.
The published evidence on feldspathic veneer longevity is encouraging. A systematic review in the European Journal of Dentistry found that porcelain veneers bonded to enamel can achieve survival rates above 90% at both 15 and 20 years. That’s the long-term picture for veneers bonded onto healthy enamel, which is exactly how we use them in the surrounding teeth in cases like this.
How does this all integrate with cosmetic bonding for smaller cases?
For smile makeover cases that don’t involve implants — typically Dublin patients who want to improve healthy front teeth — composite bonding is €250 per tooth for edge bonding (a composite veneer is €450) and produces excellent results in a single appointment, with feldspathic veneers being the longer-lasting option at higher cost.
Not every smile makeover needs to be the kind of case we’ve been describing. If your front teeth are healthy and you’re just looking to improve their shape, colour, or proportion, the conversation is much simpler — and the cost is much lower.
In many cases, cosmetic bonding (composite veneers) is the right answer. The composite resin is sculpted directly onto the teeth in a single appointment, requires no removal of tooth structure, and gives a result that most patients are genuinely thrilled with. It’s not as durable as porcelain — typical lifespan is 5 to 10 years before a refresh — but it’s a fraction of the cost, and because nothing has been ground away, it’s genuinely non-invasive — no healthy tooth structure is removed to place it.
For longer-lasting work on healthy teeth, porcelain veneers are the next step up. We’ve also written separately about how many veneers a patient actually needs — usually fewer than people assume — and what real Dublin veneer results look like.
What we want to be clear about is that “smile makeover” is a spectrum. The case we’ve been describing in this post sits at one end of it — full rehabilitation involving implants. At the other end is a couple of composite restorations to close a small gap. Both are valid; they just answer different problems. Part of the consultation is figuring out where your situation actually sits on that spectrum, and resisting the urge to over-treat or under-treat.
What does the timeline look like from first consultation to final smile?
A Dublin smile makeover combining implant surgery and cosmetic veneers typically takes 6 to 12 months from first consultation to final restoration, with the bulk of that being the 3 to 6 month implant healing period rather than active treatment time.
Honest timelines are something we feel strongly about. Anyone offering a full smile rehabilitation in a few weeks should be treated with healthy scepticism — biology doesn’t move that fast, and trying to force it produces compromises.
Here’s what a realistic timeline looks like for a case of this complexity:
- Weeks 1–4: Consultations, diagnostics, and planning. Initial consultation, photographs, scans, sometimes a CT scan for implant planning. Co-planning meetings between Docklands Dental and ISCD. Digital smile design where appropriate. The treatment plan is finalised and costed transparently before anything starts.
- Month 1–2: Surgical phase at ISCD. Failing teeth removed, infection addressed, implants placed by Dr. O’Neill. Provisional restorations fitted.
- Months 2–6: Healing and osseointegration. The implants integrate into the bone. Patient lives with provisionals. Hygiene appointments to keep everything clean during healing.
- Month 6–8: Implant-supported restoration. Final impressions or scans, laboratory fabrication of the implant-retained bridge or crowns. Try-in and fit at Docklands Dental.
- Month 8–10: Feldspathic veneer phase. Surrounding teeth prepared minimally (or sometimes not at all). Impressions taken for the feldspathic veneers, which are then layered by hand at the laboratory. Try-in appointment. Final bonding under rubber dam isolation.
- Month 10–12: Review and refine. Final review appointments. Bite adjustment if needed. Patient settles into the new smile.
The whole arc is therefore 6 to 12 months for a complex case. The visible “in the chair” time is much shorter than that — most of the wait is biology doing its job.
How much does a full smile makeover like this cost in Dublin?
A complete Dublin smile makeover combining specialist implant surgery, an implant-supported restoration, and feldspathic porcelain veneers on the surrounding teeth typically costs between €15,000 and €30,000+, with most of the variation driven by the number of implants and veneers required.
We try to be properly transparent on cost because vagueness here costs patients time and trust. Here are the numbers we work with at Docklands Dental in 2026.
- Single dental implant (placed at ISCD by specialist oral surgeon): from €3,000 to €3,500. That figure covers the whole tooth — the implant fixture, the abutment that connects it, and the porcelain crown on top. Not just the surgery.
- Surgical placement on its own: €1,650, where the implant is placed as a standalone stage and the crown is quoted separately.
- Implant crown (porcelain), quoted on its own: €1,350 (€1,700 for a complex front tooth) — for example, restoring an implant that was placed elsewhere.
- Implant-retained bridge: varies considerably depending on the span and the number of supporting implants — typically €5,000 to €10,000+ for the restorative portion.
- Feldspathic porcelain veneer (per tooth): €1,200.
- Cosmetic bonding (composite veneer, per tooth): €450.
For the kind of case we’ve been describing — a patient who needs implants to replace failing front teeth plus feldspathic veneers on four to six surrounding teeth — the all-in cost typically lands somewhere in the €15,000 to €30,000+ range. That’s a serious investment, and we treat the conversation about it seriously. The full cost of dental implants in Ireland is something we’ve written about separately if you want more detail on the implant side. And if you want to see the three routes costed side by side — bonding, porcelain veneers, or full reconstruction like this one — we’ve laid that out properly in our guide to smile makeover costs in Dublin. Every cosmetic price we quote lives in one place, too, in our Dublin cosmetic dentistry cost guide.
What we don’t do is run finance offers that obscure the real cost, package treatments to make them look cheaper than they are, or quote vague ranges that change once you’re in the chair. The number we quote at the planning stage is the number you pay, and it’s all on paper before anything begins.
How long should this kind of work last?
Well-executed Dublin smile makeover work has strong long-term outcomes — dental implants typically exceed 90% survival at 10 years, and feldspathic porcelain veneers bonded to enamel can achieve above 90% survival at 15 to 20 years.
The honest answer is that this kind of work, done properly, should last decades. But “done properly” is doing a lot of work in that sentence, and so is “with proper care.”
For the implant side: the meta-analysis we cited earlier — Kupka and colleagues in Clinical Oral Investigations in 2024 — pulled together 20 years of survival data and found that prospective studies show implant survival above 90% at 10 years and approximately four out of five implants still functioning well at 20 years. Specialist placement, healthy bone, and good ongoing hygiene push outcomes toward the upper end of that.
For the veneer side: the AlJazairy systematic review in the European Journal of Dentistry in 2021 looked at porcelain veneer survival across multiple studies. Veneers bonded to enamel — the gold-standard situation — achieved 90%+ survival at 15 and 20 years in the most rigorous follow-up data. Feldspathic veneers in particular, placed under rubber dam isolation onto healthy enamel, sit at the top of that survival curve.
The most important thing the patient can do to keep these results lasting is a slightly boring one: routine hygiene appointments, good home care, and a nightguard if they grind their teeth. Implants don’t get decay but they can get peri-implantitis (gum disease around the implant) if the cleaning slips. Veneers don’t stain but the natural teeth around them can, which over time can throw off the harmony of the smile. Both of these are entirely manageable with the kind of care any well-maintained mouth gets routinely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a smile makeover be done all in one practice, or do I have to go to two places?
It depends on the case. Straightforward cosmetic makeovers on healthy teeth — composite bonding, porcelain veneers, whitening — are done entirely at Docklands Dental. Complex cases involving specialist implant surgery typically involve a co-planned arrangement with ISCD, our specialist referral clinic in the IFSC. You see Dr. Marie O’Neill at ISCD for the surgical phase, and us for everything else. The two practices co-plan the case from the start so the patient experience feels seamless.
How do I know if I need implants or if veneers alone will do the job?
If your front teeth are healthy and just need cosmetic improvement, veneers (or composite bonding) on their own are usually enough. If there are existing failing restorations, infection, mobile teeth, or large defects, implants typically come into the conversation. The diagnostic phase — photographs, X-rays, sometimes a CT scan — is what tells us which situation you’re actually in. We won’t recommend implants if veneers will do, and we won’t recommend veneers if the foundations need attention first.
Will the implant teeth match the rest of my smile?
Yes, when the case is properly planned. The colour, shape, and proportions of the implant-supported restoration are designed alongside the surrounding feldspathic veneers — they share the same shade map, the same surface texture, the same incisal edge characteristics. The point of doing both at the same practice (or in tight collaboration) is precisely that the elements speak to each other rather than looking like separate pieces of dental work.
What if I’m anxious about treatment of this scale?
That’s the most normal thing in the world, and it’s something we talk about properly at the consultation rather than glossing over. Surgical treatment at ISCD can be done under sedation if it helps. The restorative appointments at Docklands Dental are paced to suit the patient — we don’t rush anyone. And the consultation itself is no pressure, no hard sell, just a conversation. If you decide it’s not the right time, that’s a completely fine answer.
Ready to talk it through?
If you’re considering a smile makeover and want an honest assessment of where your situation actually sits — whether you need a full rehabilitation like the case in this post, or something much smaller — we’d be glad to have that conversation with you.
You can find us at 1 Forbes Street, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2, D02 FN53, ring us on 01 636 0192, or email hello@docklandsdental.ie. No pressure, no hard sell — just a proper conversation about what’s possible and what it would honestly take.
Written by Dr. Gregg Barry, principal dentist at Docklands Dental, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2. Surgical phase of cases involving implants at Docklands Dental is performed at our specialist referral clinic ISCD by Dr. Marie O’Neill, FFD (OS) RCSI, specialist oral surgeon.
Thinking about your own smile makeover? You can book a cosmetic consultation online — thirty minutes with one of our dentists to look at your teeth and talk through the options and what they would cost (€80, as listed on our price list).
