EMA Dental

All they care about is making money. Outrageous, unrealistic prices/​charges and you can’t walk out the door without them selling you extra. The receptionists are downright rude and condescending. Would never give them another dollar, nor would I set foot in there ever again.

Everyone at EMA Dental is amazing! I recently broke a tooth and got in to see Dr. Emirzian. She told me I needed a crown which was no surprise, but I was really upset since I had terrible experiences with crowns in the past with another dental office. I have TMJ and can’t open my mouth very wide and I can’t open for long before I get temple pain. Amy, the dental assistant, reassured me that everything would be ok. She explained what would happen at each step. Dr. Emizian used what looked like a piece of foam rubber to put in my mouth that held my mouth open for me so I didn’t have to do that work. My temples didn’t hurt at all. She used smaller tools to get into my mouth and both she and Amy kept checking in with me to make sure I was doing ok. The experience went from something that could have been excruciating for me to one that was comfortable and pretty relaxing even during the drilling! What a difference!!! I thank everyone at EMA Dental for being so friendly, helpful and concerned for my well-​being!!! I am a patient for life!

This place has steadily gone downhill since becoming EMA dental.
I’ll preface this by saying I’ve been going to this office for probably 30 years, long before it became EMA. That said, when it DID become EMA… things seemed to stay the same. A friendly local dental practice. And even improved in many ways (technology).
Then, things started going downhill at a rapid pace. First they started pushing unnecessary services on you (teeth whitening, etc) every time you’d go in. Then they stopped taking insurances. I’ve now had 4 different insurance companies through work over the years, and they take none of them. Apparently they only want cash cash cash.
That said, the work they do has been good when I’ve been back, but personally, I’ll stick to another dental company in the baystate. Same good tech (xrays all electronic and they go over them with you on the monitor, appointments handled through email/​online), and they actually take dental insurance.

This is the letter I had to write to Delta Dental Insurance, as EMA has sent erroneous charges to them:
In 2004 I had a crown replaced with a porcelain crown by Dr. Mariano. It was very nice, but not seated well so it subsequently broke within six months, and he replaced it with another one, which had metal inside it. It was never seated well either, and there was a space between the gum and the crown in front, which often caught food, etc. I went back to Dr. Mariano and he said he would replace it for free, but wouldn’t touch it until I had full mouth xrays and a debridement first. I had the xrays, but could not afford to get the debridement, which he quoted as $ 375. I did not have dental insurance.
With January 2015, I have Delta Dental insurance and went back to Dr. Mariano. He again said I would have to have more xrays once again and the debridement, but that I could do it through his associate, which would be cheaper, then he would fix my front tooth. I called Delta to check to see what was covered, and found that the debridement was fully covered, once in a lifetime. So, I had the xrays again, and began the debridement (it was the first appointment of a two-​appointment treatment.)
Upon the return of xrays, he sent me a letter in which he said that he could not touch my front crown until I had a root canal. This seemed very odd and upsetting to me, as I don’t have any pain. The letter further stated that he would not treat me at all in any way until this root canal was done. At this point I still had part-​two of the debridement to do, and came to the office at our appointed time… and was told that the appointment was canceled and that I could not have my records transferred to a new dentist until I (myself) paid full price for the debridement (which was then never completed). I told them I thought Delta had covered it, and due to Dr. Mariano’s rude behavior and letter, I was not going to pay them anything.
The new dentist I have is Dr. Susan Schiffman at Modesto Family Dentistry. She is very competent and in doing the initial review of my mouth, she could not find any reason to suggest I get a root canal for that front tooth. Other errors from Mariano’s office came to light as well, for example, I was told by Mariano that I had a crack in an upper left molar and needed a crown. Shiffman found that this was only an old filling that needed replacement, which she did at what might have been less than half the cost.

EMA Dental acquired Dr William Parisien’s practice when he had a stroke a few years ago. I had been his patient since 1974, to say I was uneasy on my initial appointment with EMA was an understatement !! However, Dr. Parisien should feel very happy that he found a wonderful replacement to carry on his fine reputation in Northampton !!

Had to use EMA dental for an emergency visit while I was in town for a few days. I was fortunate enough to have Dr Sotoodeh fit me in. Well let me just say, I’m the type of person that doesn’t like being in a dental chair anymore than the next guy but as soon as I met Dr Sotoodeh and explained my issue she described how we could fix the problem and I immediately felt at ease. First off, I don’t know how she got me numb because I still don’t remember feeling any pinch from the shot! And secondly, before I realized we had started, she smiled and said «all done!» Just a great experience, I couldn’t be happier.

My family and I became EMA patients when we moved to N-​Hampton. The entire staff is friendly to a fault, and exceedingly professional. The environment is pleasant, well maintained and modern. My only criticism is that the dentists and hygienists are unrelenting and aggressive in pushing services (i.e.: teeth whitening). They even tried to schedule me for a crown ($ 2000.00), before it was actually necessary! EMA walks a fine line between proactive dentistry and hard selling services to increase their bottom line. Just keep in mind that ultimately you are in control of your treatment plan, and it’s ok to say, «no thanks».

After my excruciating experience with Hampshire Family Dental, I was a bit hesitant (for the first time ever) about going to the dentist.
Thankfully, I had nothing to fear at EMA Dental. Everyone there was nice, nothing hurt, and the dentist was friendly and knowledgeable. He showed me, using mirrors, an issue they’re going to keep an eye on, and told me what to do for it. (I even got a next-​day appointment thanks to a cancellation.)
(And speaking of Hampshire Family Dental, the people at EMA all expressed disbelief that HFD had charged me $ 25 for one sheet of grainy X-​Ray images.)

Because eating is on my top three list of reasons to live (behind the Canucks and Celtics, respectively), maintaining my teeth is something I take seriously. Just like parallel parking a brand new car with some nice wheels on them; you just don’t want to ruin a good thing. With that being said, I went to EMA Dental and talked to the receptionist there and got a good vibe and decided, what the hell, I’ll go for it. Seeing as my life decisions are often guided by peer reviews, like on Unilocal,I took a plunge as I haven’t heard a whisper about EMA Dental. I was a patient of EMA for a year before I moved back to the West Coast, but Dr. Perez has been nothing but professional. Aside from regular maintainence, I got a mouth guard as he noticed some wear on my teeth from grinding. I mentioned my move date and he got it all done a week ahead of schedule. The office is extremely modern and always busy.