Mr. Campbell's Smile Makeover in Hanoi: 23 Zirconia Crowns for $8K vs $27K+ in Perth

By the time Mr. Campbell turned 53, he had collected enough dental history to fill a folder.

Old crowns placed years earlier that no longer matched the surrounding teeth. Overcrowding that had gradually worsened. A bite that had shifted over time as the restorations wore down unevenly. His Perth dentist put the total price to fix it properly at over $27,000 AUD for 23 units across both arches, at roughly $1,200 per crown.

Mr. Campbell filed the quote away and left it there for about eighteen months.

The push to look further

He had seen friends travel to Vietnam for dental work. He had also quietly dismissed the idea for the same reasons most people do: concerns about quality, about follow-up, about doing something serious so far from home.

What changed his mind was a detailed conversation with one of those friends, who showed him the treatment plan documentation, the post-treatment X-rays, and the three-year follow-up record. Nothing about it looked like a shortcut.

Mr. Campbell contacted SmileJet, uploaded his X-rays and photos, and asked a clinic in Hanoi for a plan. Within two days he had a digital smile design preview, a unit-by-unit breakdown of which teeth needed crowns versus veneers, and a timeline: under ten days, single trip.

The price: $350 AUD per unit. Twenty-three units. $8,050 AUD total.

Ten days in Hanoi

Mr. Campbell flew in on a Thursday. The first clinical appointment was the following Monday: digital scans, shade matching, and the start of preparation across both arches over a long session.

The upper arch came first. Twelve units, a mix of full crowns on the back teeth and thinner zirconia veneers where the structure allowed. The lower arch followed the next day. Eleven units, again using full coverage where the old crowns had compromised the underlying tooth and minimal prep elsewhere.

Temporary acrylic restorations were placed the same week, giving the lab the time it needed while Mr. Campbell adjusted to the new shape and confirmed the bite felt right.

"The temporaries already looked better than what I had been walking around with for years. I kept running my tongue across them on the way back to the hotel."

Final cementation happened on day eight. The permanent zirconia units were checked unit by unit for fit, shade, and occlusion before being bonded in place. By day nine, Mr. Campbell was walking Hoan Kiem Lake with a mouth he no longer felt self-conscious about.

The numbers

• Hanoi, Vietnam: $350 AUD per unit, 23 units, $8,050 AUD total
• Perth, Australia: $1,200 AUD per unit, 23 units, $27,600 AUD total
• Difference: over $19,500 AUD on the treatment alone

Flights from Perth to Hanoi, ten nights of accommodation, food, and a few days of sightseeing added to the cost. The total still came in at less than half the Perth quote.

Back in Perth

Mr. Campbell returned to his regular Perth dentist for a check-up six weeks after the trip. The zirconia restorations were stable. His dentist confirmed the bite and the margins and sent him on his way.

He is measured in how he talks about the experience, particularly around expectations.

"I want to be honest. I went in nervous. I had read the bad stories as well as the good ones. What I found was a clinic that treated the work seriously. The dentist explained every step. I never felt like I was on a production line."

He flew home with 23 new zirconia restorations, a dental record he could hand to any dentist in Australia, and $19,000 still in his account.