I can’t believe it has been one year since I finished the process to get my veneers done in Antalya, Turkey. I also can’t believe that on this day a year ago I was on a beach enjoying my brand new teeth and today I am sitting at a desk with my damn mask on unable to go anywhere. Awful, stupid Corona.
This is my one year update on what having my new veneers has been like.
Here is a summary of this post: IT’S BEEN AWESOME. I REGRET NOTHING
For the amount of bullshit commentary I received before I went, while I was getting done and afterwards – I finally began to realize it was people projecting their own fears of medical tourism that led them to saying that nonsense. You’re afraid to venture into the unknown, so the rest of us should be afraid as well right? Yeah, no chance.
Prior to going and getting my teeth done I wrote a post letting people know I’d be going and all the planning that went into that. You can read that here.
I was so nervous then, well prepared, but nervous.
Then I got to Turkey and got through the whole process just fine, and I also wrote a recap about that here.
One year later, I knew I’d want to write an update on how having nice teeth has been.
Well first of all, let’s discuss the cons of having veneers.
I really miss chewing on bones when I eat certain meats. Examples: chicken wings, oxtail, pigtail etc. Now I can only eat the meat surrounding the bone, and even then I have to be pretty careful at the way I bite so I don’t bite the actual bone. The teeth are definitely strong enough to withstand it, but I’m not taking chances.
The second thing I notice myself missing is being able to open things with my teeth. I’m sure we all get into situations when there’s a bag that needs to be opened with no scissors in sight. No more using my teeth to rip that stuff open, can’t risk the damage. (with Corona happening, this is probably for the better anyways)
I catch myself drinking ice and then wanting to chew it, but I stop ASAP and just let it melt in my mouth or spit it out. Can’t chip veneers on no damn ice cubes just because I felt like chewing those. Not worth it.
That really is about is for the cons.
Now the PROS of having veneers? I love it all.
My whole demeanor and facial expressions have changed since I finally have nice teeth. I find myself smiling more at people, with people and in photos and videos I’m totally unfazed. There is no need to ever retake a photo, because in that first shot my smile was perfecttttttt. That makes me feel so damn good.
All smiles.
The adjustment after getting the veneers was a little odd because I assumed anything I bit into would have my teeth fall out or something. I was obviously very wrong and it was just in my mind. I eat everything pretty much the same.
Having to wear a mask when you have new teeth that you want to show off all the time has slightly diminished my shenanigans, but I think folks know I’m smiling at them underneath.
A big pro veneers have for me is I no longer bite my nails. I thought this habit would be really hard to break for me because I had been doing it since I was young, but it was shockingly easy? I think once my body figured out you actually can’t bite the damn nail with veneers, it was like ‘no, I need something else, this sucks‘ – and I stopped biting them cold turkey.
I recently went for a dental check up here in Toronto and the dentist said my teeth were great and it was probably the quickest cleaning I’ve ever had. 1) things don’t stick to veneers as easily as your regular teeth and 2) once you have veneers you upkeep them waaaay better than your actual teeth, or, well, that is true for me.
Maintaining the teeth is all the time for me. I don’t go anywhere without my dental floss and I no longer chew gum, I just put in one of those Listerine thingys that dissolve in your mouth. This has lead to my gums and overall dental hygiene being way better than it was before. I have to protect my investment right? This had lead to my gums bleeding less and also being less sensitive. I wasn’t too sure if this was from when they lasered them for the placement of veneers or if it was because of my new rigid upkeep, but I’m happy at the outcome either way. I invested in a WaterPik for cleaning my veneers because some floss couldn’t fit between the crevices of the new teeth. Also, there are some very tiny spaces (still) between the veneer and your actual tooth and you want to make sure that is kept super clean. If the lifespan of veneers is 15-years, I’m making sure mine go the distance with proper maintenance.
The adjustment to wearing a mouth guard while sleeping wasn’t too radical either. I’m someone who clenches their jaw when they sleep and also grind my teeth and a dental guard while sleeping was necessary. I don’t even notice it anymore, it just makes it a bit difficult to speak once you have it in. Definitely only a, ‘I’m about to knock out‘ time to wear it.
That’s it, that’s my update.
It has been a wonderful year of all smiles, even though these masks trying to hold me back.
I wanted to end the blog post with the actual before and after photos the clinic sent me upon completion. If you needed any more convincing that this may be the route for you, these photos will do it.
I have been working towards getting my teeth done since the beginning of 2019. All those damn overnight shifts and doubles finally came to fruition now that I FINALLY GOT MY TEETH.
Initially I was going to wait a week or so after the procedure was completed to post this, but I hate repeating myself answering the same questions over and over again. Where did you do this? How much was it? Meow meow meow meow meow. Well here is a blog post explaining it all, with pictures!
For the pre-trip information you can read all about that here. This explains all the planning process, the contacting Dental Centre Turkey, why I wanted to get my teeth done and also will help stop some of you from asking dumbass questions or making dumbass comments.
The information below is everything that happened in the past eight days of me getting this dental work done in Antalya, Turkey! It is my experience and overall a review of Dental Centre Turkey.
The First Day
Saturday, August 17th was my first appointment. At noon I was picked up by my private driver and taken to the Dental Centre Turkey, Antalya location. I was happy because it was only a 12 minute drive from my hotel so the back and forth was quick.
I loved the driver because he was all about doing it for ‘Gram. He offered to take my picture as I sat down in the vehicle and he even took a video of me getting out of it and going to enter the clinic. A team sport!
Once I arrived I filled out all the necessary medical information and was taken to get x-rays. I would like to note here that for those of you who HATE the x-rays when they put those things in your mouth and make you gag – it isn’t one of those. This is the super high-tech one that spins around your head and you just bite something with your two front teeth.
I waited about an hour for them to check out my x-rays and figure out what was wrong/what needed to be done. During that time I sat in their lobby and made friends with the Brits all getting their teeth done there, enjoyed their free wi-fi and also drank some fancy pants looking water. They have tea, water, milkshakes etc. for you to drink while you wait.
Eventually the dentist came down and brought me upstairs to talk to me about what I wanted done, my goals, and a cosmetic oral surgeon also checked out my mouth to give his opinion. I was lucky because I had no other issues with my teeth (cavities, etc) on the x-rays so all that needed to be done was what I came there for.
16 veneers, eight at the top and eight at the bottom
1 dental crown on this HUGE filling I had on my upper left side
Gum contouring on my upper teeth so I wouldn’t have such a gummy smile anymore
The cosmetic surgeon agreed that all of this could be done and told me what to expect in term of aesthetics. After that the photographer came in and I had a whole photo shoot of my ‘before‘ mouth. I’m talking WHOLE ass production. The guy took pictures of them up close, me smiling, and then also took me to their little photo studio to take pictures there as well. Was very happy at this moment that prior to coming on this trip I went and got my chin and upper lip sugared. Sheesh.
Following the photo shoot myself and the dentist sat down and she outlined everything I would have done and asked me to choose the type of veneer I want and also the shade of tooth. I went for the Zirconium Crowns in a BL2 shade. I had to underline and bold that because it is a frequently asked question. BL1 was a little too bright for me and I just didn’t see the need to get the EMAX or CEREC veneers. If you want to know the different between all three types of veneer, please click here.
The dentist broke down the price, and I signed off on all the work and the price of it. This is another question I probably get asked the most, ‘how much did the dental work cost?‘
Total Cost = 3290 GBP / $5473.56 CAD
Here is the price breakdown sheet I was given and the cost of the conversion when I paid with my card:
Price BreakdownCost in Canadian Dollars
Works for me, this shit would be like $21,000 in Canada. *shrugs*
I was very lucky at this point because they started working on me the same day. Within two hours of having my x-rays done, the procedures began.
The Procedures
The needles fucking suck. There, I said it.
I have a horrible needle phobia and the amount of needles needed to numb your mouth is WILD. Although I am obviously grateful that I was numb for things that probably hurt even more, yes, still sucked.
There are two people working on your and this is how my process went:
First they take impressions of both your upper and lower teeth so they can make your temporary teeth for later.
They used a q-tip to apply numbing cream to my upper gums where the numbing needles would be injected for the gum contouring and filing down.
They injected about 6-8 needles to my upper gums to numb the area.
First they did the gum contouring, you don’t feel a damn thing.
I should note here, some people mentioned they were bothered by the burning smell, I was not? Thank goodness.
After the contouring they proceeded to file down my upper eight teeth with various drills and instruments. Again, you do not feel a damn thing because you are numb all the way up to your nose.
Note here again, some people mentioned they wanted to gag from the taste of their own tooth shavings, it didn’t bother me at all. Maybe the dental assistant just did a really good job of suctioning? I didn’t taste anything.
Now my lower gums had the same steps as 2 + 3 done, except, injections to your lower gums hurt WAY MORE because there’s less flesh between the needle and your damn jaw bone. Lord.
I did not have contouring done to my lower gums so they went straight to filing down my lower eight teeth.
After this was done I was totally numb from my nose to my chin and looked like baby shark doo doo doo dooo do…..
Another note here – they no longer allow pictures inside where they work on you, so no pictures of the shark teeth. Sorry.
They took another set of impressions of my top and bottom teeth while filed down, so the temporary teeth would be able to sit properly.
Got my temporary teeth placed.
Where All My Work Was DoneThe Temporary Teeth
Post-Procedure
When they finished me up and I had the temporary teeth in they explained some of the stuff I can and cannot eat while I have them in and gave me my prescriptions for the week. There would be no crunchy or sticky food for the week, not a big loss. The adjustment to the temporary teeth wasn’t so awesome because to me they felt HUGE. Also, they were porous? I don’t know how to describe it. Our teeth feel so flat and clean, while these things got everything and anything I ate stuck to them.
The prescriptions were an antibiotic I’d take twice a day, a mouthwash to use three times a day and a painkiller to have just in case. All three came to about $18.00 CAD.
The Prescriptions
Much to my surprise, my next appointment was not scheduled until Friday, August 23rd. I wasn’t too upset because I assumed this would give my gums plenty of time to heal and I could go to lots of activities in Antalya during that time. (which I did) I liked the time away and not having to go back and forth regularly because that would cut into my tourist time and I was trying to enjoy this medical tourism as much as I could.
I should mention – THANK GOD FOR THOSE PAINKILLERS!!!
While you’re numb you are annoyed because you drool non-stop and look like a weirdo, but when that shit wears off? Oh lord. I’m not sure that it was necessarily the pain from the filing of the teeth, I think it was more so the gum contouring. I made the mistake of waiting until the numbing wore off to finally take a painkiller. DON’T DO THAT. Start them ASAP. The painkillers are very strong and I think I took three (one every four hours) in the first day of having my temporaries in. After that, I actually didn’t use them again for the rest of the week. Just that first 24 hours is a bit of a shock to your system with the pain and the soreness.
Eating is a little difficult with the temporaries as well, but you do get use to it. I was happy I only chose to go for the 17 teeth instead of like 20+, because I still had my back teeth to chew with if I was feeling weird.
Fitting Day
Friday, August 23rd came and it was FITTING DAY!
This would be the day I would get to try on my new veneers one by one and decide if any adjustments needed to be made.
Prepare yourself for when they remove your temporary teeth because your filed teeth are super sensitive. When they were placing and removing my veneers I definitely was feeling that sensitivity and it was not awesome.
Once they placed my veneers on for the first time, I got to get up and go look at myself in the mirror to check them out. The lower set looked amazing and so did the sides of my upper set, except the two front teeth. To me, the two front teeth were too square and it looked way too fake for me. So I told them that I wanted them to be more round so it would look more natural.
They removed my veneers and explained it to the designer of the teeth and he took them away to work on them some more. I waited about 30 minutes for my teeth to be adjusted before I got to try them on again. Perfect. I loved the new design of them and I was ready to have them placed permanently.
Unfortunately, to have your permanent veneers placed you had to go through a whole new round of injections to your gums. I swear this time I got no less than 12 to my top and 12 to bottom. Agony. I hated this part!
They placed my permanent veneers and then took impressions of the bottom teeth so they could make my gum shield to wear at night to protect them.
The Final Appointment
8:45am on Saturday morning I went in for my final appointment.
The soreness and pain from the day earlier was still there because I guess now my gums have to adjust to these newly cemented-in teeth.
Eating sucked the first time with the new veneers as well because you swear you’re going to bite into something and the tooth will fall out. But it is all mental and I ate breakfast on the Saturday just fine.
Once I got to the office they did their final inspections of what my mouth looked like with new the smile and also checked my bite. Some drilling/adjustments had to be made so my bite would be precise or would work with my old teeth + my new teeth. No pain today, they just flossed between the teeth to get rid of any leftover dental cement and I had a whole new photo shoot.
I signed off on the completed product, was given my gum shield, a new set of prescriptions to have just in case and a pamphlet of information on how to care for my veneers going forward.
Here are the pictures you probably were waiting for, the before and afters of my teeth from three different angles:
FrontRight SideLeft Side
Conclusion
I’m so damn happy. All the work leading up to this point was worth it and so was the pain in doing the procedures. It took eight days to complete my teeth, but only three appointments. Not bad, happy they let my gums heal over the days in between appointments.
Now that I have written this, if there is something I didn’t cover between the two blog posts about getting my teeth done in Turkey – just shoot me an e-mail from my contact form. I hope this was informative enough and that I gave an adequate enough review of Dental Centre Turkey as well.
Not everyone can afford dental work in their own country so I understand many people may also seek to go abroad to get the work done. If I can be of any help, I will try to be of help as much as possible.
If you are wondering how much the things you need done to your mouth would cost at Dental Centre Turkey, there is an online price list that you can find by clicking here. Furthermore, if words and pictures didn’t suffice, I made a whole ‘dental work’ highlight thingy on my Instagram page and you can find that by clicking here. It has my play-by-play as the days went on, you can go through the anxiety + suffering + happiness with me. Also, I wrote an update ONE YEAR AFTER (Aug 24, 2020) getting my teeth done to update everyone, and you can find that here. Note – I’m well into 2024 now and no, none of my teeth have fallen out. Yay.
Finally, if you are planning to go visit Antalya, I wrote a blog post about all the activities I did around my appointments. You can find that blog post here.
