For most teenagers two words strike abject terror into their hearts: acne and braces! It’s not like wearing braces is a rarity — over two thirds of U.S. teens have some sort of orthodontic treatment — but that doesn’t make it any easier. In fact, few things other than extreme acne can be as embarrassing and uncomfortable as having traditional metal braces put on their teeth.

(more…)

Alex, I’ll take human tissue for $300.

Answer: The hardest tissue in the human body. Please form your response in the form of a question.

If you’re down around the Cape this summer some muscleheads might think they know the answer to that Jeopardy question. And they’ll flex to show you. But they would be wrong.

(more…)

When you were in college you may have sought out an easy class to fill a requirement. Maybe it was Ceramics 101, and that Christmas you presented every family member with a mostly symmetrical hand-thrown bowl or vase that was one of your class projects.

(more…)

These days there seem to be many “makeovers.” Everything from homes to relationships to Moms seem to be in need of a makeover. But at EMA Dental, we can give you a makeover that you’ll be proud of every day — a smile makeover. Led by Dr. Emirzian, we’ll develop a treatment plan customized just for your needs, and then we’ll get to work making the cosmetic and aesthetic changes to give you a smile to, well, smile about!

(more…)

Bonding. The word may bring to mind the family “bonding” of Thanksgiving, with Uncle Bert, after one too many Sam Adams, loudly comparing the merits of the Bruins vs. the Patriots.

At EMA, we prefer a more useful sort of bonding, the dental variety. Dr. Emirzian is an expert in esthetic dentistry, of which dental bonding is a part. Dental bonding can be a good solution for certain dental problems. Dental bonding uses resin, a plastic-like material, to cover or fill dental problems. Bonding is an alternative to more expensive porcelain veneers.

(more…)

When a person is missing a few or many teeth, it can really impact their quality of life. Chewing can be next to impossible, requiring the person to miss out on a wide assortment of foods. Speech can be difficult, particularly if front teeth are missing. Smiling can be embarrassing.

(more…)

You know veneers. Sure, they’re the actually wood that overlays lower quality wood underneath in dressers and stuff you buy at IKEA, right?

True, but these aren’t the veneers we’re interested in at EMA Dental. We’re interested in porcelain veneers as a great way to cover up imperfections in your teeth, and show the world a perfect smile.

(more…)

Do you have plans for National Prosthodontics Awareness Week yet? Come on, it’s coming right up, April 3-9, 2016!

OK, so Prosthodontics Awareness Week isn’t on the tip of everyone’s consciousness, but maybe it should be. After all, you don’t have your general practitioner do knee surgery, so why would you have just any dentist place dental implants, bridges, and the other items that a prosthodontist specializes in?

(more…)

For many people, there is the impression that dental implants are a relatively new advancement in dentistry. Not so. Implants have been used for tooth restoration for over 50 years. They’ve actually been around longer than that, just not the modern types made of titanium.

Archeological digs have unearthed implanted seashells and ivory in the jawbone of ancient Mayans and Egyptians. Even for our most ardent Cape Cod patients, at EMA we won’t do seashell implants!

(more…)

When you’re missing a tooth, you really have two options, a dental implant or a bridge. And, while at EMA Dental we believe implants are the best option, sometimes patients prefer to have a bridge.

Some people think they can simply leave a missing tooth alone. After all, it’s just a single tooth, right? An estimated 69% of Americans age 35 to 44 have at least one missing tooth.

The problem isn’t necessarily the gap; it’s your other teeth. Just like fans at a packed football game when one person leaves a bleacher row, your teeth move over to fill the empty gap. This causes issues with your bite and overall tooth alignment. No bueno.

What is a bridge?

A bridge, just as the name implies, spans the gap, using a crown to anchor it on each side with an artificial tooth (called a pontic) in the middle. The adjacent teeth on each side are the abutment teeth. Bridges can be made of a variety of materials, but the most common are porcelain or ceramic.

How is a bridge placed?

When we opt for a bridge for our EMA Dental patients, the first step is to prepare the abutment teeth. We remove some of the tooth on each side to make room for crowns to be placed atop both teeth. We then take impressions of the area and send them to our dental lab for fabrication of your bridge. That bridge will have both crowns on the two sides with a pontic or pontics in between. It is all one ceramic or porcelain piece.

When your bridge is finished you return and we check the fit and the color match of your bridge. If everything looks good, we cement the crowns down onto your abutment teeth and you’re good to go.

Duration

Crowns can last the rest of your life, if you practice good home hygiene. Any decay on the abutment teeth, however, can cause a bridge to become loose.

If you have a missing tooth, call us at our Longmeadow or Northhampton offices and let’s talk about a bridge or implant.