Smile makeover timeline: exactly what happens on each day
From the first WhatsApp photograph to the twelve-month review, with the reason behind each appointment and how long each one takes.
In short
A porcelain smile makeover takes five to eight business days in Bucaramanga, spread across four clinical appointments: digital planning and mock-up on day one, preparation and provisionals on day two, try-in around day five, and adhesive bonding with occlusal equilibration on day six. Days three and four are laboratory days and are free. Composite cases are completed in two to three days.
Before you fly: the virtual assessment
The process begins weeks before the flight. You send guided photographs — full face relaxed, full face smiling, retracted frontal, upper and lower arches, both lateral views — plus any panoramic X-ray taken in the last two years. From those, Dr. Figueroa gives a clinical opinion in English: what is achievable, what is not, whether a more conservative treatment would serve you better, how many units, and how many days you should book.
This is also where expectations get set honestly. If your teeth are significantly rotated, no ceramic will hide that without either over-preparing the teeth or producing a bulky result — the correct answer is aligners first, veneers afterwards, and that conversation should happen before you buy a ticket, not on day one.
Day by day
| Day | What happens | Chair time |
|---|---|---|
| Arrival | Airport pick-up and hotel transfer, one block from the practice | — |
| Day 1 | Examination, periodontal check, radiographs, clinical photography, intraoral scan, digital smile design, mock-up placed and approved | 2 – 3 hours |
| Day 2 | Minimally invasive preparation guided by the mock-up, final scan or impression, provisionals fitted | 3 – 4 hours |
| Day 3 | Laboratory: pressing and layering of the ceramic. Free day | — |
| Day 4 | Laboratory: characterisation and glazing. Free day | — |
| Day 5 | Bisque try-in: shape, length, shade and midline validated with you and, when needed, the ceramist | 1 – 2 hours |
| Day 6 | Adhesive bonding under rubber dam, occlusal equilibration, polishing, final photographs | 3 – 5 hours |
| Day 7 | Review, night-guard impression if indicated, digital records handed over, airport transfer | 45 minutes |
The mock-up is the most important appointment
A mock-up is a temporary resin trial of the planned design, placed directly over your untouched teeth. You see the new length, the new proportions and the new smile line in your own face, in daylight, before a single instrument touches enamel. You can photograph it, sleep on it, show it to your family and ask for changes.
It is also a clinical tool: preparation is then done through the mock-up, so enamel is removed only where the new design requires it. That is the practical mechanism behind conservative preparation — without a mock-up, the dentist is removing tooth structure by estimation.
If the mock-up does not convince you, nothing is prepared. The plan changes, or the treatment does not happen.
Living with provisionals
- They look good, but not final: they are resin and slightly more opaque.
- Eat softly, avoid sticky food, and do not bite into hard fruit with the front teeth.
- Clean carefully around the gum margin; brush gently and do not snap floss out.
- If one comes loose, message us — it is not an emergency, and it is quickly re-fitted.
- They are the test drive: report anything that feels long, sharp or in the way. That feedback shapes the final ceramic.
After bonding, and after you fly home
For 48 hours the adhesive interface finishes maturing: avoid very hard food, keep away from strongly pigmented drinks and expect mild gum tenderness where the rubber dam and retraction cord were placed. Mild cold sensitivity for a few days is normal and settles.
- Photographs sent at one month.
- Night guard worn nightly if prescribed.
- Six-month professional cleaning with your local dentist.
- Six-month photograph checkpoint by WhatsApp.
- Twelve-month review, remote or in person.
- Digital record kept somewhere you can find it.
Frequently asked questions
Can it be done faster than five days?
Composite cases can. Layered porcelain cannot be compressed below roughly five business days without cutting the try-in or the laboratory characterisation, which is where the natural appearance comes from.
Is the procedure painful?
Preparation is done under local anaesthetic and is not painful. Most patients describe the long bonding appointment as tiring rather than uncomfortable.
Can I work remotely during the trip?
Yes. Laboratory days are entirely free and appointments are scheduled around a normal working rhythm where possible.
What if I do not like the final result at try-in?
That is precisely what the try-in is for. Shape, length and shade can still be modified at that stage, before anything is bonded permanently.
Do I need to whiten first?
Often yes, if lower teeth or unrestored teeth will remain visible. Whitening is done before the shade is chosen, never after, because ceramic does not change colour.
About the author
Dr. Cristhian Figueroa is a dentist graduated Cum Laude from Universidad Santo Tomás, dedicated to biomimetic and adhesive dentistry: enamel-preserving ceramic restorations, smile design and full-mouth rehabilitation. International patients are treated personally, in English or Spanish, from the first message to the twelve-month review.
Carrera 29 #47-108, Consultorio 18, Edificio SOMES, Sotomayor, Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia.
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