A Hollywood smile is a planned makeover of the teeth that show when you smile. Most of the work is done with thin ceramic veneers; where a tooth is heavily filled or root-treated, a crown is used instead. The point is that the set is designed together, so shape, shade and length work with your face rather than looking like a row of identical white blocks.
At Smart Care Polyclinic in Deira the full plan is AED 10,000, agreed with you at a free consultation before anything is prepared. This article explains what that buys, how it is done, and what the evidence says about how long it lasts.
Veneers or crowns, tooth by tooth
A veneer is a thin shell of ceramic, usually lithium disilicate (E.max) or a similar glass-ceramic, bonded to the front of a tooth after a very thin layer of enamel is removed. It changes colour, shape and surface while leaving most of the tooth untouched.
A crown covers the whole tooth. It is used where there is not enough sound enamel for a veneer to bond to: a tooth that is root-treated, heavily filled or fractured. Mixing the two in one smile costs nothing in longevity. Monolithic lithium disilicate and zirconia crowns survived at 98.5% and 96.8% over five years in a 2026 meta-analysis.
How long do veneers last?
A meta-analysis of thirteen studies found ceramic veneers survived at 89% over a median nine years, and glass-ceramic veneers at 94%. Chipping or fracture was the commonest problem, at 4%, followed by debonding at 2%.
The single biggest factor is what the veneer is bonded to. In a series of 580 veneers followed for up to twelve years, 99% survived when the preparation stayed within enamel, and veneers bonded to dentine were about ten times more likely to fail. That is why a good dentist removes as little tooth as the design allows, and why teeth that need more get a crown rather than a veneer.
What AED 10,000 covers
The free consultation and examination, X-rays, a digital design and a mock-up you approve in your own mouth, preparation of the teeth under local anaesthetic, temporary veneers while the final ones are made, the final ceramic veneers or crowns, fitting, and a check afterwards.
How many teeth are included depends on how many show when you smile and what each needs; that is decided with you at the consultation and written into the plan. Any treatment a tooth needs first, such as a root canal or gum treatment, is quoted separately and done before the cosmetic work, never squeezed in around it.
- Consultation, examination and X-rays
- Digital smile design and a trial mock-up over your own teeth
- Preparation, impressions or scans, and shade selection together
- Temporary veneers, then the final ceramic veneers or crowns fitted
- A review visit to fine-tune the bite
How the visits run
Visit one is consultation, photographs, X-rays and design. Nothing is prepared. Visit two is the mock-up, a trial version of the design placed over your own teeth so you can see shape and length before agreeing, followed by preparation, scans and temporaries once you approve. Visit three, one to two weeks later, is fitting: the final veneers are tried in, checked for fit, colour and bite, and bonded. A short review visit follows.
What it cannot do
Veneers cannot move teeth. Significant crowding or a bite problem needs aligners or braces first, and the dentist will say so rather than preparing crowded teeth to look straight, which removes too much enamel.
Ceramic cannot be whitened. If you want lighter natural teeth alongside the veneers, whitening comes first and the veneers are matched to the result.
It is not reversible. Enamel that has been prepared does not grow back, so a veneer that fails is replaced with another veneer or a crown. That is the reason for the mock-up: to be sure about the design before any tooth is touched.
Common questions
How much is a Hollywood smile in Dubai?
At Smart Care Polyclinic in Deira it is AED 10,000 for the full plan agreed at your free consultation: design, preparation, temporaries, the final veneers or crowns and fitting. Treatment a tooth needs first is quoted separately.
Is a Hollywood smile painful?
Preparation is done under local anaesthetic, so the appointments should not hurt. Some sensitivity to cold while the temporaries are on, and briefly after fitting, is common and settles.
Do veneers damage your teeth?
A thin layer of enamel is removed so the veneer sits flush, and that does not grow back; the tooth underneath stays alive and healthy when the work is done well and kept clean. Veneers bonded to enamel had 99% survival over up to twelve years in one series.
References
- Morimoto S, Albanesi RB, Sesma N, Agra CM, Braga MM. Main Clinical Outcomes of Feldspathic Porcelain and Glass-Ceramic Laminate Veneers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survival and Complication Rates. Int J Prosthodont. 2016;29(1):38-49.
- Gurel G, Sesma N, Calamita MA, Coachman C, Morimoto S. Influence of enamel preservation on failure rates of porcelain laminate veneers. Int J Periodontics Restorative Dent. 2013;33(1):31-39.
- Pjetursson BE, Pitta J, Balet A, et al. A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Evaluating the Survival, Failure, and Complication Rates of Metal-Ceramic, Veneered, and Monolithic All-Ceramic Tooth-Supported Single Crowns-Part 1. Int J Prosthodont. 2026;39(3):308-324.
This article is general health information, not medical advice, and does not replace a consultation. Care at Smart Care Polyclinic is provided by DHA-licensed clinicians.