Chestnut Dental was born in 1970 as a private practice specializing in pediatric dentistry. Our founding partner, Dr. Stephen Shusterman, welcomed the first patients in an office located at 111 Lincoln Street in Needham. Dr. Shusterman divided his time between his Needham office and the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Childrens Hospital, Boston. It was there that he met Dr. Howard Needleman, who was training in pediatric dentistry from 1972-1974. Dr. Shusterman invited Dr. Needleman to join the Needham practice. Both men enjoyed caring for their Needham patients as they continued their affiliation with the residency program at Childrens.

In 1977, Drs. Shusterman and Needleman invited another Childrens trained pediatric dentist, Dr. Jack Hertzberg, to join their team. Dr. Hertzberg was attending a residency program in orthodontics at the time, and in 1978 Shusterman, Needleman and Hertzberg, DMD PC became the first practice in Massachusetts with a dual-trained specialist in both pediatric dentistry and orthodontics. Additionally, the three men were committed to academics and for nearly 35 years they divided their time between private practice and teaching, research, and administration at Childrens Hospital and Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

While teaching at Childrens Hospital and Harvard Dental they trained many talented young dentists, so as the situation allowed, some of their best students were invited to join Chestnut Dental. Because of this connection, the majority of doctors at Chestnut Dental are Harvard-trained, and a very close relationship between Childrens Hospital, Harvard Dental, and Chestnut Dental continues to this day. Our pediatric dentists continue to teach residents at Childrens Hospital, and our orthodontists work closely with the oral surgeons and craniofacial team at Childrens Hospital to coordinate patient care.

With time, our pediatric patients grew up, so general dentists joined the Chestnut Dental team to treat these adult patients. This final piece enabled us to treat patients of all ages, with coordination between specialties, throughout life. As word spread about the unique comprehensive dental care model offered by Chestnut Dental, additional locations were opened in Franklin in the 1990s and Bedford in the 2010s. Each office continues to offer coordinated care between pediatric dentists, orthodontists, and general dentists, as the original three dentists pioneered over 40 years ago.

Thank you for all your care!! Demetris teeth look amazing!!! Cant possibly express how pleased we are! Dr. Donnell and his staff were amazing!! Would highly recommend the orthodontic practice! The process of getting braces was a very scary thought, and everyone in the practice helped ease the process and now that they are off, we couldnt be happier! Great job!

Thank you to Jenny, Amy, Alyssa, and Dr. Regen for a wonderful visit for my 3 boys today! You are all so kind and caring and go above and beyond so that your patients have a positive experience. I can't thank you enough! As we were getting in the car to go home one of my sons asked if we could go again next week. :) Keep up the good work!

Thank you to Dr. Anne Hertzberg and Marina at Chestnut Dental Associates for going above and beyond today for this little girl who has never been to the dentist. She needed two extractions and was treated like royalty today. The whole staff was incredible and made a very scary experience go off without any problems!

Dr. Zaki is the BEST! I highly recommend her! She makes me feel comfortable coming to the dentist! She has a great attitude & a funny sense of humor! She will spend time with you to go over all options to make you feel as ease when you leave. Just THE BEST!

Evelyn just got a card from your office congratulating her on a fantastic job getting her tooth wiggled out. She wants you to know the tooth fairy did, in fact, bring her something special. What a nice touch to what was a surprisingly pleasant experience. Amazing office and staff. Thank you!

Both my kids had Dr. Donnell as their orthodontist. He is great! He keeps parents informed while taking great care of the kids. We have two happy smiles here and Id recommend Dr. Donnell to anyone! You cant go wrong!

The Needham practice was fantastic with my nearly three year old daughter. Dr. Shusterman was very attentive and the hygienists worked so well with my daughter to drive home the importance of taking care of her teeth, as well as giving her the tools and knowledge to do so. I can't recommend these people enough!

This place is really, truly awesome. The hygienist, Amy, took extra time to explain everything to my girls, to let them ask questions, to make jokes. Girls (3 and 5 yo) were completely at ease. Dr. Regen was also easy to talk with and ask questions. My oldest has had some significant tooth trauma, and the practice has been so helpful and assuring. I started going to their adult practice and equally endorse.

Highly recommend this office for all your orthodontic and dental needs! Both my boys had 2 years of braces and I have nothing but positive things to say about the entire staff and the whole process from start to finish!!

My 13 year old son just finished his orthodontic treatment with Dr. Donnell and we were very happy with the results. They are very caring and great with kids, Dr. Donnell is sweet and friendly, both my kids have had a very positive experience with the practice.

We had an excellent experience with Dr. Donnell applying braces for our daughter. Everything was explained in detail, and the entire process went as planned. Could not be happier with the results, and would highly recommend the team at Chestnut Dental!

Dr. Stephen Shusterman earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and was awarded the D.M.D. degree, cum laude, from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. He completed an internship and residency in Pediatric Dentistry at Boston Childrens Hospital and Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He served in the United States Army, and was the Chief of Pediatric Dentistry, Internship Program, at General Leonard Wood Army Hospital, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. While at Tufts, he was inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon, Dental Honor Society.

Dr. Shusterman is a Diplomate of theAmerican Board of Pediatric Dentistryand is Dentist-in-Chief, Emeritus, at Boston Childrens Hospital. He is a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Pediatric Dentistryand has held several national committee positions. He is also Associate Clinical Professor of Developmental Biology (Pediatric Dentistry) at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He is the recipient of both the Distinguished Faculty Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Shusterman is also a member of the consultant staff of both the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Brigham and Womens Hospital.

Dr. Shustermans major academic interests are in the area of cleft lip and palate and craniofacial anomalies. He lectures widely on the subject and has traveled to China twice to speak on the Childrens Hospital Protocol for infants with cleft lip and palate as a representative of the Canada China Child Health Foundation. Academically, he is a lecturer on Behavioral Guidance, Space Maintenance and Clefts/Craniofacial Anomalies in the pre-doctoral program at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He has authored or co-authored many articles and chapters in journals and textbooks of Dentistry and Medicine.

Dr. Howard Needleman completed his undergraduate education at Rutgers University, New Jersey, magna cum laude. He was awarded his D.M.D. from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston cum laude where he received the Nesbett Award for Excellence in Clinical Dentistry and Gold Medal for Scholastic Excellence upon graduation. He received his training in pediatric dentistry at the Childrens Hospital/Harvard residency program where he was Chief Resident and was awarded the Sidney Farber House Officer Award for the most outstanding resident within the hospital in 1973-74.

He is a Diplomate of theAmerican Board of Pediatric Dentistry, Senior Associate at Boston Childrens Hospital and Clinical Professor of Pediatric Dentistry at the Harvard School of Dentistry. Dr. Needleman has been an active researcher and lecturer locally, nationally, and internationally. He has published over 75 articles in the field of pediatric dentistry and has authored many chapters in and been editor of numerous medical and dental textbooks. He has received many awards since graduation some of which include the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, the Pierre Fauchard Academy Award for Outstanding Dentist in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1995, and the Allard Award for outstanding service to the cause of preventing abuse and neglect from theMassachusetts Dental Society.

Dr. Needleman has been a local and national Spokesperson for theAmerican Dental Associationand theMassachusetts Dental Society. In addition, he is an expert witness for the Department of Health, Division of Health Professions Licensure/Board of Registration of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as for many civil and criminal law suits involving negligent dental care to children across the country.