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Prosthodontics
Where advanced science meets artistry — prosthodontic care from Dr. Seiichi Yamano, Harvard-trained prosthodontist and NYU Associate Professor.
A prosthodontist is the recognized expert in restoring and replacing teeth. At North Shore Dental Group in Manhasset, NY, Dr. Yamano — trained at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, with D.D.S., Ph.D., D.M.D., and M.M.Sc. degrees, an Associate Professor at NYU, and an NIH research grant recipient — provides comprehensive prosthodontic care for simple and complex restorative needs alike. Whether you require full-mouth rehabilitation, implant-supported restorations, or precision crown and bridge work, your care is planned and completed by a specialist prosthodontist who also teaches and conducts research.
The Specialist Advantage
A prosthodontist is a dental specialist who has completed three additional years of rigorous, post-doctoral training beyond dental school, focused exclusively on the restoration and replacement of teeth. This makes prosthodontists the recognized experts in rebuilding smiles — from single-tooth restorations to complex full-mouth reconstructions involving implants, crowns, bridges, dentures, and veneers.
While your general dentist is trained to provide a broad range of routine dental services — cleanings, fillings, simple crowns, and preventive care — a prosthodontist specializes in cases that require advanced skill and planning. Think of it this way: if your general dentist is your primary care physician, a prosthodontist is the specialist you see for complex surgical reconstruction. Their extended training covers biomechanics, occlusion (how teeth come together), dental materials science, implant prosthodontics, maxillofacial prosthetics, and the management of temporomandibular (TMJ) disorders.
When should you see a prosthodontist instead of a general dentist? You benefit from specialist care when you have multiple missing teeth, need dental implant restorations, require full-mouth rehabilitation, have experienced failed dental work elsewhere, suffer from severe wear or trauma to your teeth, or are dealing with TMJ/TMD issues. In these situations, the additional three years of focused training a prosthodontist brings to the table translates directly into better outcomes, more predictable results, and restorations that look and function like natural teeth.
At North Shore Dental Group, you have access to a dedicated prosthodontist, Dr. Yamano — ensuring that every patient receives specialist-level care for their restorative needs.
Your Prosthodontist
Dr. Yamano is a clinician-scientist, researcher, and educator. He serves as Associate Professor of Prosthodontics at NYU College of Dentistry, where he trains the next generation of dental professionals while maintaining an active clinical practice at North Shore Dental Group.
Dr. Yamano’s academic and clinical training spans several institutions. He earned his D.D.S. degree and a Ph.D. in Immunology, completed his D.M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, and received his M.M.Sc. (Master of Medical Sciences) from Harvard School of Dental Medicine — where he completed advanced fellowship training in prosthodontics. He also completed a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has been recognized as an NIH research grant recipient, reflecting his work as both a clinician and a researcher.
Beyond the clinic, Dr. Yamano is a researcher, lecturer, and editorial board member for peer-reviewed dental journals. His published work spans prosthodontics, dental implantology, biomaterials, and immunology. He lectures nationally and internationally, sharing his expertise with dental professionals worldwide. This combination of academic and clinical work means that when Dr. Yamano designs your treatment plan, it is grounded in evidence-based science and his clinical experience.
Comprehensive Care
From single-tooth restorations to complete oral reconstruction, our prosthodontic team delivers the full spectrum of advanced restorative care. Every treatment plan is individually designed by Dr. Yamano using the latest techniques, materials, and digital technology.
Comprehensive restoration of all teeth in both arches using a coordinated combination of implants, crowns, bridges, and prosthetics to rebuild complete oral function and aesthetics.
Custom crowns, bridges, and full-arch prostheses anchored to dental implants for permanent, natural-looking tooth replacement with superior stability and comfort. Full-arch implants →
Precision-crafted removable prosthetics designed for optimal fit, comfort, and natural appearance. Includes both conventional and implant-retained options.
High-quality porcelain and zirconia crowns and fixed bridges that restore damaged or missing teeth with strength, precision, and lifelike aesthetics. Crowns & bridges →
Individually designed abutment components that connect implant-supported restorations to the implant fixture, ensuring ideal emergence profile and tissue contour.
Comprehensive aesthetic treatment planning that combines veneers, crowns, whitening, and restorations to create a beautiful, harmonious, and natural-looking smile. Smile makeovers → Porcelain veneers →
Expert relining, rebasing, and repair of existing dentures to restore proper fit, comfort, and function — often completed in a single visit.
Diagnosis and management of temporomandibular joint disorders including jaw pain, clicking, limited opening, and bite-related headaches using splint therapy and occlusal adjustment.
Advanced cases involving multiple teeth, implants, and prosthetic components requiring meticulous planning, precise execution, and specialist-level expertise.
Is a Specialist Right for You?
You should see a prosthodontist when your dental needs extend beyond routine care. The additional three years of post-doctoral training that prosthodontists complete equips them to manage complex restorative challenges that require advanced planning, specialized materials knowledge, and precision execution. Below are the most common scenarios in which specialist care makes a meaningful difference in outcomes.
When you are missing several teeth — whether in one area or throughout both arches — a prosthodontist can design a coordinated restoration plan using implants, bridges, or dentures that restores function and aesthetics comprehensively, rather than addressing teeth one at a time.
Implant restorations involving multiple units, full-arch prostheses, or custom abutments require the precise design and fabrication expertise that prosthodontists are specifically trained to deliver. The look and function of an implant often comes down to the restoration.
When every tooth in both arches needs attention — whether due to extensive decay, advanced wear, trauma, or a combination — a prosthodontist is the specialist who can orchestrate a complete rebuild of your oral architecture from the ground up.
Crowns that keep falling off, bridges that don’t fit, dentures that slip — when previous dental work has not delivered the expected results, a prosthodontist can diagnose why and design a more durable, better-fitting solution using specialist techniques.
Teeth worn down by bruxism (grinding), acid erosion, or traumatic injury present unique challenges in restoration. A prosthodontist understands how to rebuild not just the teeth themselves, but the correct bite relationship and vertical dimension that supports long-term stability.
Jaw pain, clicking, limited opening, and bite-related headaches are often intertwined with occlusal (bite) problems. Prosthodontists are trained in TMJ evaluation and treatment, and can design restorations that support proper jaw alignment and reduce symptoms.
Why does specialist training matter? In prosthodontics, much of the result lies in the details — how a crown is contoured to support the gum tissue, how an implant restoration is angled to distribute bite forces evenly, how a full-arch prosthesis is designed to look and feel natural. These are the details that three years of advanced, hands-on specialist training make possible. When you choose a prosthodontist, you are choosing a provider whose entire career has been focused on getting restorations right.
A Seamless Partnership
Dental implant treatment is a two-phase process that is most successful when performed by a team of specialists working in close coordination. At North Shore Dental Group, our patients benefit from a specialist partnership in which every implant case is coordinated from start to finish.
Dr. Effie Ahladiotis, our periodontist, a Columbia-trained periodontist, handles the surgical phase — placing the implant fixtures in the jawbone with precision and expertise. Once the implants have integrated with the bone, Dr. Yamano, our prosthodontist, takes over the restorative phase — designing and fabricating the custom crowns, bridges, or full-arch prostheses that attach to the implants and become your new teeth.
This specialist-to-specialist approach means your implant is both surgically placed by a periodontist trained in bone and soft tissue management, and restored by a prosthodontist trained in prosthetic design, occlusion, and materials science. The result is a dental implant restoration that looks natural, fits precisely, distributes bite forces correctly, and is designed to last.
Every implant case at North Shore Dental Group follows a collaborative protocol. Dr. Yamano and Dr. Effie Ahladiotis plan each case together, ensuring the implant is placed in the ideal position for both surgical success and prosthetic excellence. This “restoratively driven” approach — where the final restoration guides the surgical plan — is the gold standard in modern implant dentistry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get Started
Whether you need a single crown or a complete full-mouth rehabilitation, our prosthodontic team at North Shore Dental Group is here to help you achieve optimal oral health, function, and confidence. Schedule your consultation today.