ESE & AAE Member · Straumann · Neodent · Nobel Biocare · Since 1985
Natural shade. Anatomical shape. Translucency at the incisal edge. Minimal preparation where possible, no preparation where clinically sufficient. The opposite of the piano-key Hollywood Smile — and what informed patients are increasingly asking for in 2026.
The 2023–2024 TikTok moment of uniform, blindingly white, oversized veneers has turned. UK patients in 2025–2026 are asking for a smile that reads as expensive but not cosmetic — the kind that people assume you were born with. The British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and UK dental press have documented the shift. Istanbul clinics, meanwhile, are still largely selling the old look. We are not.
A1 or A2 on the VITA scale — a realistic shade for an adult in their 30s or 40s, not BL1 bleach-white. Slight variation between teeth is preserved.
Central incisors slightly longer than laterals. Canines pointed. Minor asymmetry kept. No piano-key uniformity.
The incisal edge shows light through it, as natural enamel does. Layered e.max Press delivers this; opaque zirconia cannot.
0.3–0.5 mm of enamel, not “shaved to pegs”. No-prep where the enamel allows. The treatment is reversible in the sense that the underlying tooth is preserved.
| Feature | Hollywood Smile | Old Money Smile |
|---|---|---|
| Shade | BL1–BL2 (bleach white) | A1–A2 (natural adult white) |
| Teeth count | 16–20 (full smile line) | 6–10 (anterior only, where needed) |
| Preparation | Aggressive (often shaved to pegs) | 0.3–0.5 mm · minimal prep |
| Material | Opaque monolithic zirconia | e.max Press · layered porcelain |
| Symmetry | Perfectly uniform (piano key) | Slight asymmetry preserved |
| Translucency | Minimal | Visible at incisal edge |
| Reads as | “I got veneers” | “Your teeth look great” |
| Reversibility | Very limited — tooth structure lost | Partial — enamel mostly preserved |
| Typical UK price | £8,000–£20,000 | £4,500–£10,000 |
| At GC Clinic (Istanbul) | £3,800–£6,250 | £2,500–£6,250 |
Before anything is prepared, you see a simulation. Face photographs + intraoral scan + facial proportion analysis produce a digital mock-up. You approve the shape, shade and arrangement before Dr. Öztürk touches a tooth.
The approved design is built in wax on a model of your teeth, then trial-fitted in your mouth as composite mock-ups. You walk out of that appointment, see the smile in daylight, photograph it, live with it for 24 hours, then decide.
0.3–0.5 mm of enamel at the facial surface, following the trial-smile mock-up as the template. No more than required. Local anaesthesia. Takes about 90 minutes for 8–10 teeth.
Hand-made chairside, fitted the same appointment. You walk out with a natural-looking smile already in place — not a row of filed-down pegs. 3–5 days of healing while the lab produces the final e.max Press veneers.
Veneers are trial-fitted dry (no adhesive), adjusted, photographed, approved by you, then bonded with dual-cure resin cement. Polished. Occlusion checked. You fly home.
1-month WhatsApp follow-up with photographs. 5-year written warranty on the veneers themselves. Any polishing or adjustments within the warranty period, we cover the return flight.
They have read about veneers. They have seen the “Turkey Teeth” stories. They know what they do not want. They are asking for subtle, not dramatic.
Barristers, consultants, broadcasters, executives. The smile has to read on camera without reading as cosmetic dentistry. The “is that a veneer?” test matters.
Some of our work is redoing the old look in a natural one — swapping opaque zirconia for translucent e.max, rebuilding asymmetry into a line that had been flattened. See Turkey Teeth Recovery.
The material that delivers natural translucency at the incisal edge is lithium-disilicate pressed ceramic — trade name e.max Press, manufactured by Ivoclar Vivadent. There is no substitute that matches its optical properties at this price point. We have used it as our default cosmetic ceramic for ten years.
Lithium-disilicate, pressed. 15-year published survival data. Our default veneer material. Fifteen shades within the natural range; stained and characterised by hand in the lab.
Traditional hand-layered porcelain over refractory die. For cases where ultra-thin (0.2 mm) is required and maximum light translucency matters more than strength.
Where preparation is not acceptable or budget is a factor, high-aesthetic composite bonded directly to the tooth. Fully reversible. Less long-lived than porcelain — 5–7 years before refresh.
| Package | Material | Teeth | At GC Clinic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard · Old Money Smile | e.max Press · basic DSD | 8–12 teeth | £2,500–3,800 |
| Premium · Old Money Smile | Straumann zirconia-based + e.max multi-layer · digital DSD + mock-up | 8–12 teeth | £3,800–4,800 |
| VIP · Old Money Smile | Straumann premium zirconia + e.max multi-layer · digital test drive · gum contouring | 8–12 teeth | £6,250+ |
| Composite variant (no-prep) | Enamel Plus HRi · hand-layered | 4–10 teeth | From £780 |
Send us a few photographs and we will reply with an honest read: whether Old Money Smile is the right approach for you, which tier fits, and how many teeth are actually required. No sales follow-up if it is not a fit.
Ready?
Every patient leaves GC Clinic with a written warranty, a complete records pack in PDF for any UK dentist, and a structured WhatsApp follow-up schedule (24h · 72h · 1 week · 1 month · 3 months · 6 months · 12 months). Annual video review with Dr. Öztürk is standard. If a covered complication occurs in the warranty period, our “we fly you back” clause — written in your treatment agreement, not a marketing phrase — covers the return flight, hotel and corrective treatment.
◆ Aftercare · what happens when you fly home
Minimal-prep IPS e.max veneers, pressed and characterised by the in-house ceramist with restrained value and natural translucency. The Old Money brief is engineered into the lab work, not added at the seat.
Built at GC Clinic LabworX
