Dr. Styrt on the importance of retainers

If you've recently completed treatment at Dr. Styrt's office, we’d like to congratulate you! Now that your braces have been removed, Drs. Styrt and Job will provide—or have provided you—with retainers. After braces are removed, teeth can shift out of position if they are not stabilized. Retainers, however, provide that stabilization. They are designed to hold teeth in their corrected, ideal positions until the bones and gums adapt to the treatment changes. Wearing retainers exactly as instructed by Drs. Styrt and Job is the best insurance that the treatment improvements last for a lifetime.

To learn more about the advantages of wearing retainers after your orthodontic treatment at the office of Dr. Styrt, please read this helpful article about retainers from KidsHealth or give us a call!

Love your or your child's new smile? Tell us about it!

If you or your child have ever been treated at Dr. Paul Styrt's office, you probably know our goal is to create healthy smiles as well as balanced faces that will last a lifetime.

We are a team of professionals dedicated to serving the needs of our patients and enhancing their lives. We consistently strive to provide the finest and most technologically advanced orthodontic and pediatric dental care to each person we serve.

Whether you have visited Dr. Styrt or Dr. Allen Job for weeks, months or years, we’d love to hear your feedback about your experience at our convenient San Diego office! With the Internet, it’s even easier to write your thoughts and share them with the world. We'd want to encourage you to write a review of us on our Google Places page - it only takes a moment!

You may write your review here.

Thank you in advance, and enjoy the rest of the week!

What causes crooked teeth?

There are several reasons why some people's teeth grow in crooked, overlapping, or twisted. Some people's mouths are too small for their teeth, which crowds the teeth and causes them to shift. In other cases, a person's upper and lower jaws aren't the same size or are malformed. Most often, crooked teeth are inherited traits just as the color of your eyes or hair. Other causes of crooked teeth are early loss of baby or adult teeth, undue pressure on the teeth and gums, misalignment of jaw after facial injury, or common oral health problems in children such as thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, or prolonged use of a bottle or pacifier.

Having crooked teeth isn’t just a cosmetic issue; it can lead to serious health problems as well. Crooked teeth can:
• interfere with proper chewing
• make keeping teeth clean more of a challenge, increasing the risk of tooth decay, cavities, and gingivitis
• strain the teeth, jaws, and muscles, increasing the risk of breaking a tooth
There are several orthodontic procedures that can help correct crooked teeth, and at Dr. Styrt's office we have many services that we can customize to meet your needs, including traditional metal braces, clear braces, and Invisalign®. We want you to be proud to show off your smile!

Making Braces Fit into Your Life

When you get braces at Dr. Styrt's office there are a few things you’ll have to adjust to get optimal results in the shortest amount of time. If you have any questions about the “do’s and don’ts” of living with braces, feel free to ask Dr. Paul J. Styrt or any member of our staff during your next adjustment!
Eating
When you have braces, there are a few types of food that can damage your brackets and bend your wires, leading to more appointments and longer treatment times. By simply avoiding sticky, chewy, crunchy, and hard foods, as well as foods that require biting into like corn on the cob, your orthodontic experience will be much easier.
Cleaning
You’ll never believe the amount of food that can get stuck between your braces when you eat. In addition to causing bad breath and tooth decay, it looks pretty gross, too. It’s so important to brush your teeth after every meal and floss every day, and even though it’s kind of a hassle, it’ll all be worth it in the end.
Sports
Protecting your smile if you play sports is essential when you have braces. Mouthguards help protect your teeth and gums from injury. Dr. Paul J. Styrt can create a custom mouthguard just for you if you plan on participating in any kind of contact sport or you can purchase an adjustable mouthguard at the front desk and the doctors will be happy to mold it to your mouth.

Ask Dr. Styrt: How long does orthodontic treatment take?

Your smile is totally unique, so the time you’ll need to spend undergoing orthodontic treatment will also be unique. Generally, orthodontic treatment will take about two years, and this is for good reason. During this time, your teeth will slowly move into their desired positions, leaving you with a great smile with as little discomfort as possible. Rushing treatment can result in a less than perfect smile with a greater chance of tooth movement after your treatment is complete. At Dr. Styrt's office, we don’t want to waste your time with treatment that won’t retain your smile for the rest of your life.

Of course, treatment time will vary depending on your specific situation. Very minor tooth movement may only take a few months to correct, while serious malocclusion (poor bite) may need more than two years to correct. Only Dr. Styrt will be able to accurately estimate the time your treatment will take. But trust us—it’ll all be worth it in the end!

Has your child or teen visited our San Diego office for a complimentary consultation? If not, please give us a call and let us help him or her begin the journey to a gorgeous smile!

Dr. Styrt & team, supporting National Children's Dental Health Month

Each February for the past 61 years, the American Dental Association (ADA) sponsors National Children's Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of oral health. Developing good habits at an early age and scheduling regular dental visits helps children get a good start on a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.

For kids wearing braces, brushing and flossing can become more difficult, requiring extra time and vigilance to remove food particles that accumulate on and between the teeth and in braces. New options for braces such as Invisalign Teen, which is removable, make it easier for kids to maintain good oral health during orthodontic treatment.

If the health of your teeth is ignored during treatment with braces, the results can be significantly compromised. Drs. Job and Styrt are both available and happy to explain why effective brushing and flossing is one of the most critical actions needed from patients during orthodontic treatment. Have you visited our San Diego office lately? Give us a call and schedule an appointment!

Dreaming of a dazzling smile? Dr. Styrt & team can help!

The fact is, most of us aren’t born with a red carpet smile. And that’s where Dr. Styrt and our team can help. Of course, orthodontic treatment help make your teeth stay strong, healthy and become perfectly-aligned. But did you know you can get the beautiful straight teeth you’ve always wanted — without braces?

We are proud to offer an adult-friendly option for straightening teeth called Invisalign, which uses a series of invisible, removable and comfortable aligners that no one can tell you’re wearing. So, you can smile more during treatment as well as after. Not only are the aligners invisible, they are removable, so you can eat and drink what you want while in treatment. Plus, brushing and flossing are no problem. They are also comfortable, with no metal to cause mouth abrasions during treatment. And no metal and wires usually means you spend less time at our office getting adjustments. Invisalign also allows you to view your own virtual treatment plan when you start so you can see how your straight teeth will look when your treatment is complete.

If you’ve been thinking about getting that perfect smile, we would love to have you in for a visit. Please give us a call to set one up! A complimentary consultation with Dr. Styrt can determine if Invisalign is right for you. See you soon!