Which Bonding Package?
Which teeth each package covers, what is included in the price, why sets are shaped together, and how to pick the right number for your smile.
How Many Teeth Should Be Bonded?
The honest answer is: as many as show when you smile. Grin at a mirror and count the upper teeth on view. For most people that is six or eight, and bonding all of them means the shape runs evenly across the smile with no step where it stops. At Peninsula Dentists on Greenwich Peninsula a single tooth is from £375, and the packages are £1,550 for four teeth, £2,350 for six, £3,150 for eight and £3,950 for ten, each with home whitening, a review and a final polish built in. Dr Pei Xian Chen settles the number with you at a free consultation.
The Four Packages at a Glance
| Teeth | Usually means | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One chip, one worn corner or one small gap | From £375 |
| 4 | The central and lateral incisors | £1,550 |
| 6 | Incisors plus the canines, the "social six" | £2,350 |
| 8 | Through to the first premolars | £3,150 |
| 10 | Everything on show in a wide smile | £3,950 |
A package is a single fee for a set of teeth bonded together in one sitting, so shade, texture and shape are consistent across all of them. Home whitening beforehand, a review about two weeks later and a final polish are part of every package. Composite veneers, where the whole front face of the tooth is covered rather than just the edge, are charged on the same scale.2 All figures are guide prices and your own fee is fixed in writing before we begin; the complete list is on our fees page.
Which Teeth Are in Each Package
Working outwards from the midline, the upper arch runs central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, first premolar, second premolar on each side.
- Four covers the central and lateral incisors, the teeth that take the brunt of chips, wear and small gaps.
- Six adds the two canines at the corners of the smile. These six are what most people see in conversation.
- Eight continues to the first premolars, so a wider smile looks even all the way back.
- Ten reaches the second premolars, which is every tooth visible in a broad, full smile.
Packages nearly always describe the upper teeth, since those dominate a smile. Lower teeth can be added if their edges bother you; raise it at the consultation and it goes into the same plan.
Can't Decide on the Number?
Dr Pei will count what shows when you smile and recommend a package.
Working Out Your Number
Count the teeth you can see when you smile without trying. That number is almost always the right one to bond, because it means every tooth in view follows the same design and there is no visible point where the new shape ends and the old one begins. If one chipped corner is all that troubles you, one tooth, or the front four, is often plenty.
The width of your smile decides more than anything else. Someone with a broad smile might show ten upper teeth, and bonding only four would leave a noticeable step at the canines. Someone whose lip sits lower may show six, and six is complete. If you are unsure, send a photo taken in daylight on WhatsApp to 07515 676150. Dr Pei will reply with what is realistic and a likely price band, usually within the working day.
Why Sets Are Shaped in One Appointment
Composite is layered by hand from a palette of shades and translucencies, and no two sessions produce exactly the same blend. Bond six teeth across three separate visits and you risk three slightly different whites. Bond them together and the colour, surface texture and gloss are identical from tooth to tooth.
There is a design reason too. With the whole set in front of him, your dentist can mirror each tooth against its twin on the other side, keep the proportions in step with your lip line and face, and follow the natural curve of the smile. That is the difference between bonding that looks like teeth and bonding that looks like bonding. It is also why a package costs less per tooth than multiplying the single-tooth fee: six teeth with whitening is £2,350, which works out at £333 a tooth for the bonding itself once the whitening is taken out.2
Whitening Comes First
Composite is colour-matched on the day and never changes afterwards, so if you want whiter teeth the whitening has to happen before the bonding. Every package includes Boutique home whitening: custom trays made from an iTero Element scan, professional gel worn for a short period each day for two to three weeks, and a check of your progress by Dr Pei.
We then leave about a fortnight for the shade to stabilise and for the enamel to recover its full bonding strength before the composite goes on. Most people whiten to a natural B1 and have the bonding matched to it; brighter is possible if that is the look you want. If you would prefer our Enlighten whitening, with its guaranteed B1 shade, say so at the consultation and we will include it in your written plan. The timing is explained in our guide to whitening before bonding.
Everything the Package Covers
Your consultation with Dr Pei Xian Chen, who holds a postgraduate certificate in advanced aesthetic restorative dentistry, is free, with a £40 deposit returned to you after you attend. The package fee then covers photographs and shade selection, home whitening, the bonding appointment itself with each tooth built up by hand in layers, a review roughly two weeks later, a final polish, and a fixed fee set out in writing.
Larger cases can also have a digital smile design once treatment is under way, with a trial smile placed over your teeth so you can see the proposed shapes before they are made permanent. Edge bonding is normally a single visit; a full set of composite veneers is one long appointment, occasionally two.
Paying for a Package
Bonding sits outside the dental plan discount, so members and non-members pay the same package fee. Every package is above the £1,500 threshold for Chrysalis Finance, so you can spread it interest free over 6 or 12 months, or over longer terms up to 60 months at 14.9% APR representative, subject to status and with a deposit optional. The application is online, once your written plan is agreed, and our finance page has the terms and a representative example.
However you pay, the figure in your plan is what you pay. Should anything unexpected turn up during treatment, we stop and talk it through before doing anything that would alter it.
Questions
This guide explains the options in general terms. Only an examination can tell you which of them suits your own teeth.