Smile Makeovers in the City of London: What’s Involved and How Long It Takes
Most people who ask about a smile makeover are not asking for one treatment. They are asking whether the shape, colour and alignment of their front teeth can be brought into line with each other, and how much disruption that involves.
That second part matters more than you might expect if you work in the City. Appointments have to fit between meetings, and nobody wants to walk into a client presentation mid-treatment looking obviously in progress. This is a practical guide to what a smile makeover involves, how the stages are sequenced, and what the diary actually looks like.
What a smile makeover actually is
A smile makeover is a plan rather than a procedure. It combines two or more treatments to address the things that make a smile look uneven: colour, position, worn or chipped edges, gaps, or teeth that have been restored piecemeal over the years and no longer match.
The components are drawn from the same set of treatments used individually:
Teeth whitening to establish the base shade, almost always first
Composite bonding to reshape edges, close small gaps and rebuild worn corners
Porcelain veneers, where the change needed is beyond what bonding can hold
Teeth straightening with Invisalign, where the underlying position is the real problem
Crowns or bridges, where a tooth is already heavily restored
Dental implants, where a tooth is missing
The skill is in deciding which of these you need and, more
Why the order of treatment matters
Sequencing is not arbitrary. Whitening comes first because composite and porcelain do not change colour afterwards. If bonding is placed before whitening, it will stay at the old shade while everything around it lightens.
Where alignment is part of the picture, straightening usually comes before any cosmetic work. Moving a tooth into a better position often reduces how much reshaping is needed afterwards, and occasionally removes the need for veneers altogether. It is slower, but it is the more conservative route.
How your smile is planned
The consultation is where most of the value sits. It typically covers photographs, an assessment of gum health and bite, and a conversation about what you want to change, which is often narrower than people expect once they say it out loud.
From there, the design can be previewed before anything is altered. Digital planning and, where useful, a trial mock-up let you see the proposed shape in your own mouth first. If the proportions look wrong, they get changed on the model rather than on your teeth.
Dr Martin Zunde plans every case around the proportions of your own face rather than a single template. The aim is a result that looks like your teeth on a good day, not a set of teeth that announces itself.
Healthy foundations come first
No cosmetic work is placed over active disease. Untreated decay, bleeding gums or an unstable bite will all shorten the life of the result, so a makeover normally begins with a general dentistry assessment and any hygiene or restorative work that is needed.
This is the least glamorous stage and the one most worth not skipping.
How long it takes, and how it fits a City diary
Timescales depend entirely on what is included:
Whitening alone: a course over two to three weeks, mostly at home, with short appointments either end
Bonding: usually completed in one longer appointment
Veneers: typically a preparation visit and a fit visit, with temporaries in between
Invisalign: several months, with brief check-ins that are easy to slot into a lunch break
Implants: the longest route, because healing time cannot be shortened
A combined plan is generally staged over weeks or months rather than delivered in one sitting. If you have a fixed date in mind, such as a wedding, a milestone birthday or a round of client-facing work, it is worth saying so at the consultation, because the plan can usually be sequenced backwards from it.
The practice is at 77 Cornhill, a few minutes from Bank station and walkable from Liverpool Street, Moorgate and Cannon Street, which makes early and late appointments realistic rather than theoretical.
What results should look like
The most common regret in cosmetic dentistry is a result that is too white, too uniform and too large for the face it sits in. Natural teeth are not identical to each other, and they are not the colour of paper.
Restraint is a deliberate choice here: shade selected to sit with your skin tone and eyes, edges with a little variation, and proportions matched to your lip line. Done properly, people notice that you look well rather than that you have had something done.
Looking after the result
Composite bonding responds to the same things that stain teeth (coffee, red wine, tobacco) and benefits from occasional polishing. Porcelain is more stain-resistant but still relies on healthy gums underneath. Whitening fades gradually and is usually topped up.
If you grind or clench, which is common enough among people working long hours under pressure, a night guard is likely to be recommended to protect the work. This is the single most effective thing you can do to make a makeover last.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if I need a smile makeover rather than a single treatment?
Often you don’t. If a single feature bothers you, such as one chipped edge or overall colour, a single treatment may be all that is required. A makeover is the right framing when several things are contributing at once, or when previous work no longer matches the teeth around it.
Will my teeth need to be filed down?
Not necessarily. Whitening, bonding and alignment are all additive or non-destructive. Porcelain veneers do require some preparation of the tooth surface, which is one of the reasons alternatives are considered first where they will achieve the result.
Can a smile makeover be done discreetly while I’m working?
Usually, yes. Bonding and whitening leave no visible interim stage. Veneers involve a period in temporaries, which are made to look natural. Clear aligners are removable and largely unnoticed in meetings.
How long will the results last?
It varies by component and by how they are looked after. Bonding typically needs refreshing sooner than porcelain; whitening fades and is topped up; implants and well-maintained crowns are long-term restorations. Gum health and grinding habits affect all of them.
Is a smile makeover suitable if I’ve had a lot of dental work already?
Frequently it is exactly the situation a makeover is designed for: a mouth restored gradually over years, where the individual work is sound but no longer matches. Existing restorations are assessed on their own merits and only replaced where there is a reason to.
Arranging a consultation in the City of London
If you’d like to talk through what a smile makeover would involve in your case, consultations are available at 77 Cornhill in the City of London, a short walk from Bank station. Early-morning and post-work appointments suit most City schedules.
Get in touch to arrange a consultation.
You may also find it useful to read Porcelain Veneers in the City of London: What to Expect.
About the author
Dr Martin Zunde is a Harley Street-trained cosmetic and implant dentist practising at 77 Cornhill in the City of London, moments from Bank station. He treats patients from across the City, including Bank, Liverpool Street, Moorgate and Cannon Street, with a focus on precision, comfort and results that look natural rather than obvious.
