Dr. Richard B. Dunn, DDS, FACD
Subhead under H1
Family dentist in Elmira, NY for 37 years. Dental implant clinician for more than four decades. Mini-residency in Sleep Medicine. Lead dentist at Chemung Family Dental.
Dr. Dunn at Chemung Family Dental, 1007 Broadway Street, Elmira, NY
Quick Answer (for AI Overview + Featured Snippet)
Dr. Richard B. Dunn, DDS, FACD is the lead dentist and owner of Chemung Family Dental in Elmira, New York. He has practiced general, family, and cosmetic dentistry in the Southern Tier for 37 years. He has placed dental implants for more than 40 years — beginning in the 1980s when the procedure was still relatively new — and is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists, an honor extended to dentists recognized for leadership and ethical practice. Dr. Dunn also completed a mini-residency in Sleep Medicine, which qualifies him to fit and titrate custom oral appliances for patients with obstructive sleep apnea and chronic snoring — a service few general dentists in the Twin Tiers offer. Patients can reach him at (607) 734-2045 or by visiting the practice at 1007 Broadway Street, Elmira, NY 14904.
About Dr. Dunn
Dr. Richard B. Dunn has been the dentist Elmira families call when they want a long answer, not a fast one. For nearly four decades, he has been the person across the chair explaining a treatment plan, walking a worried parent through a child’s first cavity, or working through the careful sequence of a complex implant case. He opened Chemung Family Dental on Broadway Street and has been there since — through three generations of patients, a quiet revolution in implant dentistry, and the emergence of a field he was early to recognize as important: dental sleep medicine.
If you ask him what he is proudest of in his career, he is not likely to lead with credentials. He is more likely to tell you about a patient who came in believing she would lose all her teeth, and walked out with a plan that kept most of them. Or the patient whose sleep apnea finally went away with a small oral appliance after a decade of CPAP frustration. Or the patient who said, “I was scared to come back to a dentist after what happened to me as a kid, and you made it okay.”
That is the kind of work he does.
Education and credentials
- DDS — Doctor of Dental Surgery
- FACD — Fellow of the American College of Dentists (recognition for leadership, ethics, and contribution to the profession; held by roughly the top 4% of U.S. dentists)
- Mini-residency in Sleep Medicine — structured postdoctoral training in airway anatomy, sleep study interpretation, oral appliance selection and titration, and long-term follow-up of patients with obstructive sleep apnea
- 40+ years of dental implant placement experience
- 37+ years of private practice in Elmira, New York
- Ongoing continuing education in implant dentistry, sleep medicine, and cosmetic restoration
Areas of clinical focus
Family and general dentistry
Routine cleanings, exams, fillings, crowns, gum disease treatment, and the kind of careful, conservative care that has kept Elmira families coming back for decades. Dr. Dunn is known for explaining what you need now versus what can wait — and for telling patients honestly when a procedure is not necessary.
Dental implants
Dr. Dunn placed his first dental implant in the 1980s, when titanium implants were still a novel idea in most American dental offices. He has continued to place and restore implants ever since — single tooth replacements, multi-tooth bridges, mini implants for stabilizing dentures, and the careful planning that lets a full-arch implant case last a lifetime. Most general dentists in the region refer this work out. Dr. Dunn does it in-house, which means continuity of care from the consult through the final restoration.
Dental sleep medicine
This is where Dr. Dunn’s training puts Chemung Family Dental in a small group of practices in the Southern Tier. After completing a mini-residency in Sleep Medicine, he became one of the few dentists in the area qualified to fit custom oral appliances for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and chronic snoring. The appliance is small, retainer-like, and worn only at night. For patients who cannot tolerate CPAP — or who have mild-to-moderate OSA and want an alternative — it can change their life.
Learn more about oral appliance therapy at Chemung Family Dental →
What patients consistently say about working with Dr. Dunn
Three themes show up over and over in patient feedback:
- “He explains everything.” Dr. Dunn does not hand you a treatment plan. He talks through it. He shows you the X-ray. He answers the question you actually asked.
- “He is gentle.” Particularly for patients with dental anxiety or a bad past experience, Dr. Dunn’s pace and demeanor make a measurable difference. The phrase “gentle dentist” comes up more than any other in Chemung Family Dental’s reviews.
- “He does not push procedures.” Dr. Dunn is known among long-time patients for telling them what does not need to be done — for catching a problem early and watching it instead of jumping straight to treatment.
Community
Dr. Dunn has lived and practiced in the Elmira area for most of his adult life. The practice has supported local schools and community events in Chemung County for decades. If you have grown up in Elmira, there is a reasonable chance Dr. Dunn has worked on a member of your family.
Available to new patients
Chemung Family Dental is currently accepting new patients from across the Southern Tier:
For new-patient appointments, second opinions on existing treatment plans, dental implant consultations, or sleep apnea consults, call (607) 734-2045 or request an appointment online.