June 30, 2016
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.
June 15, 2016
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.
May 30, 2016
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!
May 15, 2016
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.
April 30, 2016
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.
April 15, 2016
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.
March 30, 2016
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?
March 15, 2016
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!
September 30, 2015
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.
August 15, 2015
People fear root canals because they think they are dreadfully painful. In reality, they are no more painful than getting a typical filling in a tooth. Plus, a root canal can save the natural tooth, which is always the best alternative.
So, what’s involved in a root canal?
Why you need one
Decay is the enemy of teeth. If normal decay is allowed to progress to the point where it enters the interior of the tooth (past the enamel), this is where things get ugly. That decay has now created an infection in the dentin, the pulp inside the tooth. Nerves are exposed and the pain can become extreme, or it can show itself as a reaction to hot or cold foods. Either way, once decay has created an infection in the tooth, a root canal is likely necessary.
The procedure
In a root canal, a hole is drilled into the tooth to allow access. Then specialized endodontic files are inserted into the tooth to remove all of the decayed tissue and bacteria. This is done on the entire interior of the tooth, all the way down into the root. Nerves are removed in the process.
Next the tooth is flushed with water and sterilized. The empty tooth is then filled with a rubber-based material called gutta-percha. Now the opening is filled and, if needed, a crown is place over the filling to rebuild the tooth to its former height and shape.
The vast majority of root canal procedures are successful in allowing the patient to keep his or her natural tooth, which is a far better solution than extraction and implants, bridges, or other dental appliances.
If you’re having serious tooth pain, you may need a root canal. Call one or our two EMA Dental offices and schedule your appointment.
