Nahal Ashouri, DDS MS

I was not sure I wanted braces or Invisalign in my mid-​twenties until I met Dr. Ashouri. Not only did I have crooked teeth but I also had a crossbite/​underbite.
For fear of calling in, I scheduled a painless consultation with Dr. Ashouri over their website, which they respond to very quickly! I came into the meeting prepared with my full list of questions and walked away with all my fears washed away. She assured me that I qualified for Invisalign and answered my litany of questions.
Within a day of the consultation, I flipped from being extremely wary to immediately paying the full price of the service. I haven’t regretted that decision. Unlike other orthodontists who have their Invisalign patients wear retainers for 2 weeks, she likes to make the changes to your teeth more incrementally, so she asks Invisalign to produce twice the amount of aligners just so her patients can change them out every week instead of every second week.
The one-​week aligners are phenomenal because:
1.) They don’t stain or yellow as fast
2.) They don’t get food stuck in the attachment (if you need them) craters of the aligners; I notice this happens on day 6 or 7, but by then you’re about to swap for a new set of aligners
3.) They don’t hurt as much because the movements are smaller and incremental
On top of that, Dr. Ashouri introduced me to Acceledent, which is a new orthodontic treatment to accelerate the movements of your teeth. It’s basically a mouthguard you wear every day for 20 minutes that help move your teeth faster.
Assuming that you are good about wearing your aligners everyday for the recommended 22/​hours a day or make up for lost time by biting on chewable tubes to help push your teeth into the aligners AND you use Acceledent religiously daily, you can swap your aligners out every 4 – 6 days instead of 7 days! Acceledent was an additional $ 900 on top of the treatment but so far has been well worth the price for me. With only 5 months out of my estimated 2.5 years of Invisalign wear, my teeth ALREADY look straight. Can’t wait to see how they’ll look at the end.
I highly recommend Dr. Ashouri. She not only knows what she’s doing, but she remembers you, answers your emails quickly, is professional yet friendly, prompt, kind, and caring. At the very least, try the free consultation and meet her.

It does not get better than Dr. Ashouri! She is an absolute gem and I am so happy that I found her! Thanks Unilocalers! She is kind, caring, and she always goes above and beyond to take care of her patients. She is also brilliant! She knows what she is doing when it comes to straightening smiles. My case was not an easy one and most orthodontists would not have even attempted to align my jaw and straighten my teeth with Invisalign but Dr. Ashouri made it happen. For the first time in my life, I am SO HAPPY with my smile!
She runs a great business too. All of her staff members are very kind and accommodating. It is always a pleasure to come to the office and now that my treatment is over with, I actually miss coming in and seeing everyone! I wish that all business owners ran their businesses like Dr. Ashouri does. The world would be a better place.
I’m smiling so big now all because of Dr. Ashouri! She’s a beautiful person and I feel so blessed to have been a patient of hers.

Fantastic! My daughter and I both have enjoyed working with Dr. Ashouri and have loved our results!

I found Dr. Ashouri through Unilocal several years ago when I needed a replacement retainer. Each time I get a new retainer, Dr. Ashouri looks to see if she can make a slight adjustment to a tooth to make it the overall results even straighter. She always has a smile on her face and I love going into the office to see what the decorations will be (her office is extensively decorated for each holiday).

Our dentist suggested we take my daughter (then around 7 years old) to an orthodontist. Her two adult front team grew in SO far apart there was no room for the next to teeth to come in. He recommended Dr. Ashouri as she is right across the hall. After checking in with one friend, she said both her sons had also been to Dr. Ashouri and she was thrilled, that was good enough for me. I will add that later as I began to give out more rave reviews of Dr. Ashouri to friends, many of them decided to get second opinions and I began to wonder, uh oh, I didn’t do that. Well, turns out I had no reason to doubt myself. Of of the referrals I gave out (trust me there were many, only one person chose another orthodontist). I also found out that most of the children at my daughter’s school use Dr. Ashouri as well.
Now, on to the treatment. .. .we had the free consultation and agreed on a treatment. I asked if we could wait some time so I could put money in our FSA and Dr. Ashouri was able to work out a plan for that. Her all female staff is so friendly. We liked them all, but my daughter took a particular liking to Adriana, so I requested that we had all future appts with her. I never had to ask again — they must have put a note in her file because we had her every time after that. I love that attention to detail and customer service.
Dr. Ashouri has a wonderful reward system called «bracket bucks» where the patients can earn wooden coins they can trade in for gift certificates. This kept my daughter motivated to do a good job brushing her teeth and to be on time for appointments.
I love Dr. Ashouri’s attitude. Several times I was worried about what seemed like a very long time we were waiting for my daughter’s teeth to come in. She always told me not to worry –that was her job. And, she was right. Although it took a bit longer than we had hoped, the results were worth it. My daughter has a beautiful smile.
Side note: My daughter’s treatment was braces on her 8 adult teeth. We continue to go back about every six months as her additional adult teeth come in. This was part of the treatment plan and there has been no charge.
If you are in need of an orthodontist, I highly recommend Dr. Ashouri. If you are trying to make a decision, you should at the very least go in for a free consultation, you won’t regret it.

Dr. Ashouri is the most caring, thoughtful doctor I have ever encountered. She promptly answered my questions (even via email) throughout my Invisalign treatment and made my teeth perfectly straight! I wholeheartedly recommend Dr. Ashouri.

I’ve read some of the other reviews and while I’m not an avid Unilocal reviewer I do feel that I’d add my experience to balance:
I went to Dr. Ashouri on the recommendation of my cousin who was pretty appalled at the state of my teeth. I went to Dr. Ashouri needing help but not really knowing what help I needed. She saw me for free and recommended that a) I don’t do orthodontic work due to the state of my teeth and b) to go see a dentist she highly recommended.
A year and a half later, the issues in my teeth have all been resolved and my teeth are back to being healthy, even drawing surprise and delight from the dentist and her team.
It’s hard to fault anyone who will see you for free, give you a consultation that sends business away to someone else, and expect nothing in return except for perhaps healthy teeth.
When I first walked into Dr. Ashouri’s office, it is clear that quality of service and respect for the customer and personal integrity is the philosophy behind her office. The workers are all very professional and they seem to take a lot of pride in what they do. I can’t speak to the prices as again, I never paid anything, but if the prices are higher, then it is for the quality. Remember those times you went to a cheap dentist and your teeth felt worse after than before? Ultimately when you get dental work you want it done right because you’re generally not going to get a second chance: once they drill that tooth, it’s not coming back.

Both my dad and I have used Dr. Ashouri, and have been completely satisfied with her services. I encountered her first in need of a new retainer. Having already had braces as a kid, years of sporadic wear of my first retainer (sorry mom and dad) had allowed my teeth to move enough that trying to wear the original was actually exasperating the misalignment. It was long past due for a replacement. Thankfully my best friend was able to refer to the office of Dr. Ashouri.
After my first appointment Dr. Ashouri had the patience and demeanor of your favorite grade school teacher. She explained to me how my teeth had adjusted, and how I had gone from having a slight overbite as a kid to an underbite as an adult (oh cruel dental gods). She initially recommended I try out invisalign, but given that the majority of my time is spent outside of the area the regular appointment schedule needed was not going to work for me. Much to her credit she didn’t try to upsell me when I asked for just a new retainer to keep my teeth from getting any worse.
Her staff’s customer service has also always been great when I interacted with them, and have been very thoughtful about sending reminders about scheduling a check up when I’m actually in CA rather than force me to pick a date far in advanced.
Needless to say my satisfaction with Dr. Ashouri’s office meant that I had no qualms referring her to my dad when he wanted to get an invisalign done. He in turn has been thrilled with Dr. Ashouri’s services, and has been much better than I’d been about sticking to the good doctor’s instructions.

The search for our daughter’s orthodontist started with our dentist’s suggestion. He gave names of several area orthodontists. I sent an email to our local parent, school and neighborhood groups — shortlisting names came up several times. As a normal practice, I decide to get 3 opinions.
At Dr. Ashouri’s, the fees for my daughter’s first phase of braces seemed similar at the 3 offices, not the cheapest but certainly not out of line. Part of the value for me is the level of care and service and from the onset I could see my daughter was very comfortable with Dr. Ashouri. Dr. Ashouri greeted us personally and examined my daughter. She showed us cartoons of what needed to be done and explained why. I appreciated that Dr. Ashouri spoke directly to my daughter, putting her at ease. Dr. Ashouri answered my questions and concerns as well. I visited the other orthodontists, but the experience didn’t compare. My daughter and I both loved Dr. Ashouri, the staff and the environment — so we decided to start treatment.
My daughter’s treatment is almost finished and she will soon get retainers. They have a reward system for the kids so they can earn tokens for maintaining brace care and cleaning, which was always incentivizing for my daughter. The office is always decorated in a fun and interesting way, which makes visits throughout the year something to look forward to for both the kids and parents!
We certainly made the right decision! I don’t believe in compromising «screaming deals» for quality of care when it comes to my family (within reason of course!). I plan to take my second child here when the inevitable time for braces comes!

I found Dr. Ashouri’s office through Unilocal.After going through all the positive reviews, we scheduled a consultation. And I’m so glad I did. From the initial consultation to every few months of adjustments, me and my kids were treated with kindness and top notch professionalism. Dr. Ashouri is very meticulous and conscientious. Her assistants are knowledgeable in all aspects of orthodontics. Patients comfort is their top priority. Dr. Ashouri and her staff takes in consideration our long drive and makes sure that my kids braces are comfortable before we leave.
Her prices seems to be fair (after going through several quotes I received from a few consultation I had here). I will be starting adult invisalign soon to correct some crowding after years of braces as a child. Dr. Ashouri’s office makes orthodontic treatment a very positive experience.

I was not able to have braces as a child, so I have to live with crooked teeth and overbite. I always wanted to have straight teeth and had a few consultation with different orthodontists over the years about braces. My friend referred me to Dr. Ashouri. Although the previous orthodontist has told me I cannot have invisalign, Dr. Ashouri said she can do it but cautious since others had said my case is too hard to fix with Invisalign. Dr. Ashouri assured me that she had treated cases like mine. She also said that if Invisalign doesn’t do the job fully, she can use braces for a short time to make my teeth perfect. With that offer, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I started my treatment about 18 months ago. Dr. Ashouri is very creative with Invisalign. She used rubber bands (discretely) and some tiny clear bumps on the teeth to make the Invisalign work as well as the braces. She is very hands-​on with the planning of the Invisaline treatment, and she showed me a cartoon of my teeth moving even before we started.
My treatment is almost done (and I already look great even if I stopped now), but I will continue till everything is perfect in the eyes of Dr. Ashouri. We never needed to use any braces at all during my treatment (although I was prepared to). The office staff are always professional and know what is going on. They made a very simple payment plan for me without any fees or interest so that I could pay them over time as we go along. This was very helpful since I don’t have any orthodontic insurance.
Many thanks to Dr. Ashouri and her great staff. I STRONGLY recommend Dr. Ashouri’s office if you need your teeth straightened!

When I was in middle school, I had a really bad experience with braces. My dentist was a buddy of my dad’s, and he insisted that he would be able to do it at a low cost. The problem (s)… he didn’t really seem to know what he was doing (he was just a dentist, not an actual orthodontist!), had terrible chairside manner, and never ever clipped the ends of the wires to make sure they weren’t poking me. Almost every visit that I went there ended in tears, and after 4 months, my parents and I gave up and had the braces removed.
Fast forward 15 years or so… I still have a big overbite and really crooked teeth. Because of my overbite, I’m always biting on the inside of my lower lip and causing a blister to form. I remember my dad had that same problem and had trouble eating sometimes because the blister was so painful. I don’t want to be dealing with that in 20 – 30 years! I decided to take the plunge and look into getting my teeth fixed.
I was referred to Dr. Ashouri by a friend who was really happy with his experience. She had great Unilocal reviews too, so I went in for a consultation (which is free). At the consultation, she looked at my teeth and asked me what my goals were. I confessed that I was a previous failed orthodontic patient and told her my story, and she ended up recommending Invisalign for me. She told me it was more gentle than braces, and that I wouldn’t have any pokey wires to worry about. I was doubtful because I’d heard that Invisalign can only fix minor problems, and I had a lot of crowding plus the overbite issue… but she said that she’s treated much more difficult cases successfully with Invisalign, and she showed me a few before/​after photos of people who had similar «before» teeth as me.
My first impression: the doctor was so sweet, gentle, and patient! I was really comfortable talking with her. Totally opposite of the dentist who made me cry at every visit and made me nervous all the time!
The process was pretty simple. You sign a contract (they have payment plans with no interest if you have no insurance coverage like me), go to the x-​ray lab next door to take a 3D scan and an x-​ray, Dr. Ashouri uses those things to plan out your treatment, and then 3 weeks later, you come back to get your fancy Invisalign! Her assistant Eren puts on attachments and buttons (if you have rubber bands like I did), shows you how to put the trays on and off, and waits patiently while you practice over and over because it’s a little tricky at first. Then you go home with enough trays to last you until your next visit in 10 weeks. Very low maintenance; you don’t have to go in all the time for appointments.
One thing that surprised me: In the middle of my treatment, I noticed that the trays weren’t fitting perfectly anymore. A couple of the teeth had a little gap between the plastic and the tooth. I was worried that the end result would be compromised because it seemed like those teeth were getting left behind. When I went to my next visit, Dr. Ashouri noticed it right away and suggested ordering new trays to make sure that those teeth were perfect too. I was hesitant because I didn’t want to pay extra for new trays, but it’s all included in the original cost! She wants your teeth as perfect as you do! The only additional cost was taking a new 3D scan at the lab so she can re-​design the aligners.
Anyway, the treatment went great after that. My teeth look great, I have clear retainers that I wear every night, and I don’t have that problem with biting my lip anymore. Woohoo! Check out the before/​afters for proof that Invisalign really works!
Dr. Ashouri was so great during the treatment. She’s a real professional and you can tell that she cares a lot about her patients and the results that she is able to get for them. She is really easy to reach by phone or email, which is rare for a doctor (my daughter’s pediatrician claims to «not have an email address» at all…). If I ever emailed her questions about the treatment, she answered promptly, even in the evenings and on weekends.
Her staff is great too — everyone is so friendly and you can tell that they really enjoy their jobs! They decorate the office every season so it’s always different and fun inside. They even have matching colorful scrubs! I haven’t seen any kids here scared and crying like I was back in the day. ^_​~
I had such a positive experience here that I send everyone I know… my college roommate, my husband, my cousin, my brother, my mom, my friends… My daughter doesn’t have any teeth yet… hopefully she won’t inherit my crooked teeth and overbite (or her dad’s gigantic teeth that caused him to get 4 extractions when he had braces as a teenager)… but if she does, I know where I’m taking her in 5 years.

Professional and exemplary service. I had Invisalign here and have referred several. This place is super friendly and Dr Ashouri in a perfectionist.

Beware! This doctor gives out prizes and rewards for patients who writes a review for her in Unilocal!
Here is my situation and I hope this will help you.
I have a child who went for evaluation after I have seen the 5 star rating. After a long wait, her recommendation is for us to get the Xray done at a lab next door for about $ 250. Without the Xray, she cannot really recommend anything. She explained this the lab does not take insurance and that we will have to claim it afterwards. She said that the Xray is too big and a lot of ortho does not have it. The staff then quote me a phase 1 and phase 2 price.
After that, I then went to 3 other orthos. 2 of those actually have the Xray machine, and did not charge me for anything. I am not sure whether the 3^rd one does or does not have that machine, but all three offices took actual digital photos of my child’s face, teeth and took measurements of the teeth.
The fact that the other 3 already agrees that my child does not need anything at this moment, because she only has 4 permanent teeth out. The other 3 also said that we should just revisit in 6 months. However, Dr Nahal was pushing for the Xray and quoted me the price to do it. She also showed me that her own daughter did the phase 1 when she was five. All the other orthos said that I should wait and save my money for now. They all said Wait and See is the way to go.
I guess doing the procedure for her own daughter does not cost Dr Nahal her money, but I will save the money up in my own pocket. I will not seek her advice. Go somewhere else if you want a really FREE consultation.

Edit on December 2
I would give this place negative stars if I could.
Here’s my final verdict: for a small business, this is an incredibly well-​marketed and operated place where every interaction with a patient is shared within the office in detail. Now, here’s the thing:
After posting my edit below on Nov 29, she emailed me the day after (Nov 30) saying why her quote was so much more than what I got form other Invisalign Preferred Elite places in the same neighborhood. She went on and on explaining why the higher cost is justified at her place (e.x. her being on the American Board of Orthodontic enables «the best way possible for long term stability“apparently). It was nice of her to explain why the cost was higher than other places. Okay, that’s fine.
BUT, after three days on December 2, she writes to my friend through whom I got my referral and details EVERY SINGLE PATIENT INTERACTION SHE HAD WITH ME in a lengthy 679-​words email (because «[she didn’t] didn’t want [my friend] to hear only one side of the story and think that [she doesn’t] appreciate [my friend’s] referrals or that [she] didn’t honor the promise [she] made to [my friend] about [his] referrals» — direct quote), which of course my friend forwarded to me right after receiving it. She has no concept of patient privacy whatsoever — I’m bringing this case to the American Board of Orthodontic and Invisalign for further actions. I will update this review as necessary.
In the meantime, I highly advise everyone to stay away from this business. Y N’s one star review below shares the exactly same sentiment with me – this place rewards existing patients to write Unilocal reviews and the 4.5 star rating is highly inflated. This place is not to be trusted.
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Edit on November 29 (taking off 4 stars: 5 to 1)
After going around and getting quotes from other places, I found this place’s quote as high as 2x compared to other Invisalign places. I would recommend getting as many quotes as possible. Also, charging for 3D scan and X-​ray for $ 250 is pretty ridiculous as well.
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This places redefines what «service» means for orthodontics. Although I have yet to decide what place to go for my Invisalign, this place gave me an long-​lasting impression of excellence in service.

I came here to replace a retainer that I wore for 12-​plus years, which broke. Dr. Ashouri and her staff are all fantastic! They were very transparent with the different options and the cost of each one, and they assured me they would try to get as much of it on my insurance as possible. I am very satisfied with my new Invisiline retainer that also doubles as a bite guard. And as a nice bonus, they were able to get my insurance to cover it!

I’ve had metal braces twice before with another orthodontist in my teens, and relapsed twice after losing my retainers and my parents stubbornly not wanting to pay to replace them. When I went for a second time, they always referred to me as a «relapse patient» which I hated, and they always made me feel rushed when I visited.
Now on my third time (I will have plenty of back up retainers this time!!), as an adult with my own means to pay for braces I decided to go with invisalign and Dr ashouri based on Unilocal reviews. She is very responsive and caring, as well as the rest of her staff. She takes the time to explain the process and address concerns, it’s well worth what you pay here. The teeth scanning at the lab is right next door and scheduling at her office is really easy, they’ll print reminder sheets for your next visit. I’ve had it for 10 months and I get my retainers in a few weeks.(8 months of lingers and 2 months of refinement aligners.)
This whole process has been so much easier and less painful than traditional braces, I really wish this had been more easily accessible back when I was a teen!
With traditional braces I had to deal with rubberbands, metal brackets snapping off, a neck brace at night, wax for the metal rubbing on your inner cheeks, and a really obvious metal bar retainer afterward.
With invisalign I only had attachments and plastic trays, it’s been so much easier! Dr Ashouri has been really great and she’s very knowledgeable and has been able to straighten everything for me for a great smile.

I went in for an orthodontic appointment and she was one of the awesomest doc I have seen!
She spoke very well and explained me everything about invisalign!
I am super excited about getting invisalign treatment from her!

Everyone in this clinic was so nice and friendly especially Arianna. She’s really good!
I’m currently on the 18^th month of my treatment (metal braces) and so far I love how it improves my bite and TMJ pain (I think I have the worst (cross)bite due to a number of missing teeth since childhood).
I believe Dr. Nahal Ashouri is one of the best Orthodontist in the bay area because of her professionalism and good bedside manner. For me she’s very honest, will not promise you the result to be 100% perfect as you want it to be but she will do her BEST that she can to correct your bite and improve your smile. Yes, her service isn’t the cheapest in the area but the «quality» is not that cheapo too (I think you’ll just get what you paid for). You can never go wrong by choosing her!
PS. I’ll update this review when my treatment is done!

Absolutely amazing. I’ve had problems for years and had my time/​money wasted by a bunch of orthodontists. Dr Ashouri was amazing. She’s incredibly skilled, and is one of the nicest people on the planet.
I can’t recommend her and her staff enough.