Chapter 00 · Arrival

A smile rebuilt by a specialist

Not a general dentist with a weekend course. A board-certified prosthodontist who has spent a career rebuilding what other people gave up on.

Book a Free ConsultSee the Transformation
D.D.S., M.S.Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics
Since 2003In Practice
2 OfficesMcLean & Alexandria
Begin
Patient smile before double-arch All-on-4
Chapter 01 · The Reality

You have probably been told this is complicated. That it will take years, cost a fortune, or simply cannot be done.

Usually that is a verdict on the tools available to whoever was looking, not on your mouth.

Most implant failures are not surgical failures. They are planning failures, and planning is the discipline a prosthodontist trains three extra years to do.

Chapter 02 · The Difference

One of twelve recognised dental specialties.

0Years in Practice
0Implants Placed
0Arches Restored
0Average Patient Rating

Why patients travel to see Dr. Nahlah.

Most implant cases pass through three or four sets of hands. Here, they don’t.

HereElsewhere
Board-certified prosthodontist with three years of specialist training beyond dental school.A weekend implant course, or a referral out.
Surgery and final teeth planned and placed by the same specialist.Handed between a surgeon, a dentist and an outside lab.
The final smile is designed first, then implants are placed to serve it.Implants placed first, restoration figured out afterwards.
Complex and failed cases accepted, including work other practices decline.Straightforward cases only.
IV sedation certified, so a full-arch case is done in one sitting.Local anaesthetic, or a referral for sedation.
Thin-arch (FP1) full arches wherever the bone allows: teeth, not a slab of pink acrylic.One thick FP3 prosthesis, whatever the case looks like.
A digital laboratory inside both offices, so shade and fit are corrected while you wait.Posted to an outside lab, and waited on for weeks.
Every implant placed through a computer-generated surgical guide.Placed freehand, judged by eye on the day.
Dr. Nahlah with Yolanda, a full-arch patient of the practice
Dr. Esam NahlahD.D.S., M.S.
Chapter 03 · The Specialist

The credentials behind the work.

Practising since 2003, in Northern Virginia since 2013, entirely on prosthodontics. Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics and Fellow of the American College of Prosthodontists.

Adjunct faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University, teaching the residents in its Prosthodontics Postgraduate Program, and lecturing on smile design and implants. Which is what brings the difficult cases to his door.

Across that career, over 18,000 implants placed and over 15,000 arches restored.

Credentials & Certifications

  • Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics
  • Fellow, American College of Prosthodontists
  • Adjunct Faculty, VCU Prosthodontics Postgraduate Program
  • Certificate in Prosthodontics
  • M.S., Master of Science in Oral Biology
  • Fellow, International Congress of Oral Implantologists
  • Associate Fellow, American Academy of Implant Dentistry
  • IV Sedation Certificate
Meet Dr. Nahlah
Chapter 04 · The Transformation

Keep scrolling. Watch it change.

Patient smile before veneers and implant restorationThe same smile after treatment
Patient smile before double-arch All-on-4The same smile after double-arch All-on-4
Patient smile before single-arch All-on-4The same smile after single-arch All-on-4
BeforeAfter
Porcelain veneers with implant restoration · upper and lower archSee every case →
Chapter 05 · The Path

Four visits, not four years.

01

Consultation & 3D Scan

A cone-beam scan shows the bone we actually have to work with. You leave knowing whether you are a candidate, what it costs, and how long it takes.

A patient reviewing her CBCT scan and an implant model with a clinician
02

Digital Smile Design

The final teeth are designed before a single implant is placed. You approve the result in advance rather than hoping for it.

The same smile after treatment
03

Guided Placement

Implants are placed through a surgical guide built from your scan, under sedation if you want it. Many patients leave the same day with fixed teeth.

The lounge and communal table in the practice's building
04

Final Restoration

Once healing is complete the definitive teeth go in, shaped, shaded and bite-balanced by the same specialist who planned them.

The same smile after double-arch All-on-4
Chapter 06 · The Standard

Four things you will not find down the road.

Planning, surgery, sedation and the lab that makes your teeth, all in the same building, run by the same team. These four are what that actually buys you.

The bench and stereo microscope in the practice's in-house laboratoryIn-House Digital Lab
A digital laboratory in both practices.McLean and Alexandria each have their own lab and their own technician. Shade, shape and fit are corrected in minutes rather than posted to a third party and waited on for weeks.
A clinician showing a patient their X-ray beside an implant modelComputer-Guided Surgery
Placed to a plan, not by eye.A cone-beam scan maps the bone, the positions are planned in software, and a printed surgical guide puts every implant at the planned angle and depth.
A shade guide held against a patient's smile to match veneer colourMinimally Invasive Veneers
Under a millimetre of enamel.Veneer preparations are kept as thin as the case allows, so what is already yours stays yours.
Both arches restored on implantsThin Arch
Teeth, not a slab of acrylic.Where the bone allows it, a full arch is restored as FP1: crowns on implants, with no bulky pink base. The difference is below.
Thin Arch

FP1, FP2, FP3, and why we plan for the first.

Every full-arch implant prosthesis is one of three types. What separates them is how much of it is teeth, and how much is pink acrylic standing in for gum and bone. Most practices fit one kind. Here the arch is planned as thin as the case will carry.

FP1

Replaces teeth only

  • Natural crown-and-bridge look
  • No added pink, no extra bulk
  • Typically on more natural gum architecture
FP2

Longer teeth, minimal pink

  • Longer teeth, minimal pink acrylic
  • The pink that is added still follows the natural gum contour
  • Rarely indicated, and often not ideal
FP3

Replaces teeth, gums and bone

  • Thick pink acrylic stands in for gum and bone
  • Thicker, stronger prosthesis
  • Typically best where there is bone loss, and a lower hygiene risk
FP1, FP2 and FP3 full-arch prostheses side by side
The same arch, three ways. The pink is the difference.

A thin arch is not always possible. Where bone loss is advanced, FP3 is both the honest answer and the stronger one. What is worth asking is whether anyone planned for the alternative. How a full arch is planned

Chapter 07 · The Proof
“
My smile held me back. That’s behind me now.
Melanie · Full-Arch Implant Patient

What patients say afterwards.

Recent Google reviews from both practices. Their words, not ours.

Google
4.9 Google reviews · both offices
Read the patient stories
Chapter 08 · The Invitation

A Space Designed For Your Comfort.

The reception desk, with the Dr. Nahlah wordmark above a marble counter and cream and gold waiting chairsA consultation room with a round table, two upholstered chairs and a monitorThe corridor between treatment rooms, lined with gold arch detailingA treatment room with the dental chair, overhead light and chairside monitorThe preparation corridor, with instrument cabinetry along one wall

Find out if you’re a candidate.

A consultation includes the 3D scan and a straight answer about what your case actually needs, before you commit to anything.