FREQUENTLY
ASKEDby LERTS

There's no catch in what goes into your mouth. The implant I place is the same Straumann fixture used in Zurich; the porcelain is the same e.max pressed in the same kind of lab. What's lower is the cost of running a clinic in Chiang Mai rather than central London — the rent, the salaries, the lab bills — not the quality of the work. Every part is traceable, and you keep its batch certificate and manufacturer warranty. The honest catch is travel: you have to get here, and some treatments need to be planned around your time — which is what the rest of these answers are about.

Only if that's what you ask me for. The fake look comes from a single flat, opaque shade cut into identical shapes — that's a style, not a requirement. I design every case to your face: the width of your smile, your lip line, your age, even how translucent your natural edges are. We mock it up in 3D and try the shape on your own teeth before I touch them, so you approve the look in the mirror first. Done well, people should notice you look rested and well — not that you've "had your teeth done."

This is the question I most respect, so I'll give it to you straight: removing enamel is permanent — it doesn't grow back, and a prepared tooth will always need something on it. That said, modern veneers are conservative — about 0.3–0.5 mm, a fingernail's thickness — and some ultra-thin cases need almost no reduction at all. If your teeth are healthy, well-aligned and you only dislike the color, I'll often tell you not to do veneers and to whiten instead. I only prepare a tooth when the trade — shape, proportion, a chip or a worn edge — is genuinely worth it.

Because a good plan often starts by talking you out of the biggest version. If your teeth are crowded or stick out, the honest answer is usually Invisalign first — moving your own teeth beats masking them. If the only problem is color, whitening costs a tenth as much. Veneers earn their place when it's about shape, proportion, worn edges or chips that alignment and whitening can't fix. I'd rather do four veneers you truly need than ten you don't.

For most single missing teeth in a healthy adult, I'd choose an implant — and here's the real reason: it's the only option that replaces the root, so the bone underneath stays alive instead of slowly shrinking. A bridge means grinding down the two healthy teeth on either side, which I avoid whenever I can. Dentures still have their place for several missing teeth or a tighter budget, and I'll say so honestly. But if we can save bone and leave the neighboring teeth untouched, that's almost always what I'd choose for myself.

Partly — and I won't pretend otherwise. Placing the implant is one short appointment; the part that can't be rushed is osseointegration, the roughly three months your bone needs to grip the titanium before I load a permanent crown. For visitors we usually split it across two trips, or place the implant now and fit the final crown on your next visit. In selected cases with strong bone I can fit a temporary tooth the same day, so you're never left with a visible gap. What I won't do is screw a permanent crown onto an implant that isn't ready — that's how implants fail.

First, the odds are firmly on your side — well-planned implants succeed in the region of 95% or more. But I won't tell you the risk is zero: smoking, uncontrolled diabetes and poor cleaning are what push it the wrong way, and we talk about those honestly before we start. Every implant I place is a traceable Straumann with a manufacturer warranty, so wherever you are, any dentist can identify the exact part. If something isn't right you have a direct line to me — we follow up by video, and on the rare occasion a fixture doesn't integrate, we replace it. You are not on your own once you leave the chair.