Planning the smile
Dr. Nahlah and the practice's lab designer meet you, photograph your face and smile, and hear what you want to change. You leave knowing the options and what each costs, and the free design follows.
Porcelain Veneers in McLean, VA
Try the new smile on before it is made.
Veneers designed and made at the Tysons Corner office on Jones Branch Drive, by a board-certified prosthodontist.
Is It Veneers?
What porcelain is for, and what it is not.
Veneers change the shape, size and color of the teeth that show when you smile. They are not the cure for a bite that is wearing teeth down. At Suite 220 they are used for:
- Front teeth that are chipped or cracked
- Gaps, and teeth sitting slightly out of line
- Teeth that look small, short or oddly shaped
- Stains that bleaching has not been able to lift
- Edges worn down over the years
If color is all that bothers you, whitening comes first and may be enough. If a tooth is too broken to hold a veneer, a crown is the better answer, and you hear that at the first visit.
The Trial Smile
Seen on your own teeth before a tooth is touched.
The design begins as a free Digital Smile Design, built from photographs of your face and your smile. Before any enamel is prepared, a mock-up of that design is placed over your own teeth, so you see and feel the new shape in your mouth, not only on a screen.
Anything you would change, a longer edge or a softer corner, is adjusted and tried again until you are happy with it. Only then are the teeth prepared, and the temporary veneers you wear afterwards copy the shape you approved.
- Designed from photographs of your face
- A mock-up tried over your own teeth
- Changes made before any enamel is removed
Your Visits in McLean
One visit to plan the smile, two in the chair.
Trial, preparation and scan
The mock-up is tried in and adjusted. Once you approve it, less than a millimeter of enamel comes off the front of each tooth, the teeth are scanned rather than molded, and temporaries go on.
Made down the hall
The lab in Suite 220 builds the porcelain from the scan and the approved design. Nothing goes to an outside laboratory, so a change is a conversation with the person making your veneers.
Bonded for good
The temporaries come off, the fit of each veneer is checked, and they are bonded in place. Afterwards you brush and floss as you always have.
Real Cases
Three veneer cases, all treated here.
BeforeAfter
BeforeAfter
BeforeAfter
Getting Here
Second floor, 7901 Jones Branch Drive.
- Suite 220, in Tysons, with parking under the building
- Monday to Thursday 8 am to 5 pm; Friday 8 am to 2 pm
- Call (703) 448-3312 as a new patient; current patients use (571) 702-9832
- Usually the nearer office from McLean, Vienna, Great Falls and Reston
- The lab that makes your veneers is in the same building
The Specialist
Why a prosthodontist designs your veneers.
Board-certified. Dr. Esam Nahlah has been a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics since 2013 and is a Fellow of the American College of Prosthodontists.
Trained to restore teeth. Three more years of training after dental school, spent on restoring and replacing teeth, veneers included. The finished smile is planned first and the work follows it.
A teacher of the specialty. He teaches prosthodontics residents at Virginia Commonwealth University and lectures other dentists on smile design.
About Dr. NahlahQuestions
Veneers in McLean: questions.
Who designs and fits veneers at the Tysons Corner office?
Dr. Esam Nahlah, a board-certified prosthodontist, plans each case with the practice's lab designer and bonds the veneers himself. The porcelain is made in the lab in Suite 220.The Tysons Corner office →
Will I have temporary veneers?
Yes. After the teeth are prepared and scanned, you wear temporary veneers that copy the approved design until the porcelain is ready. They come off at the bonding visit.
How much tooth is removed for a veneer?
Less than a millimeter of enamel from the front surface of each tooth, so the veneer sits flush. Lost enamel does not come back, which is why you see the trial smile and approve the design first.Porcelain veneers explained →
Do porcelain veneers change color?
Porcelain keeps the shade it is made in and does not pick up stain the way enamel does. If whitening is in your plan it is done first, and the veneers are matched to the whitened teeth.Teeth whitening →
Can veneers straighten crooked teeth?
Mildly crooked, gapped or uneven front teeth, yes: each veneer changes how its tooth looks within the smile. A bite that is out of line is a different problem, and it gets a different answer.
Where do I park for the McLean office?
Under the building at 7901 Jones Branch Drive. The office is Suite 220, on the second floor, open Monday to Thursday 8 am to 5 pm and Friday 8 am to 2 pm.Open in Google Maps →
Where to go next.
Book a veneer consultation in McLean.
The Digital Smile Design preview is free. New patients call (703) 448-3312, or book online with the Tysons Corner office.
Tysons Corner · McLean
Dr. Nahlah Implants and Prosthodontics Specialists7901 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 220
McLean, VA 22102
New patients(703) 448-3312
Current patients(571) 702-9832
DirectionsBook now