Robert A. Sunstein, DDS Orthodontist

By far the FRIENDLIEST dental office staff I have ever met. Seriously hands down the best. The orthodontist (Dr. Sunstein) was also very friendly and seemed very confident in what he could do.
Now I can’t afford this guy, but if you can, he is probably worth a shot. One thing I don’t like (even if I could afford it) is that he charges for all of your panoramic x-​rays once you start treatment. The machine is there in-​office, so it’s just added costs that no other office I visited had.
I trusted his opinion, but the payment options weren’t very friendly to this new college grad. He also quoted me over $ 1,000 more than the other orthodontists I visited.

Dr Sunstein is definitely an orthodontist who cares about his patients and will deliver exceptional care with outstanding results. He treats patients with emphasis on final esthetic result with shortest possible time. If you are in a need for traditional braces or Invisalign I would highly recommend Dr. Sunstein, because his extensive experience and endless dedication will deliver outcomes you will be ecstatic about!

I’ve had braces as a child and other orthodontists, but Dr. Sunstein and the whole staff is great! The front office is professional and welcoming, and the staff is warm, friendly, and knowledgable. They have provided me with great care, and Dr. Sunstein has been nothing but professional, extremely effective and knowledgable, and he cares about his patients! He always takes time to ask how you are doing. A positive attitude combined with expert know-​how equals 5 stars in my book. I highly recommend this whole company! :)
–Matthew

Perfect smiles are born here. My daughter is thirteen and will have the second series of braces done before High School. Hooray!

Dr. Sunstein and his staff are the most well rounded office you can go to. You can tell the great atmosphere and friendly family oriented environment from the minute you step in his office. Dr. Sunstein has treated myself along with several of my family members and his knowledge and expertise shows through each and everyone of those smiles. I would highly recommend him to anyone who is looking for the best orthodontic treatment you can find. If your serious about getting orthodontic treatment then Dr. Sunstein is the one for you.

We came to Dr. Sunstein in the recommendation of a family from our sons’ school. He has now done a full phase and ½ way though a second. My son’s teeth look great, it has been a simple straightforward process. My child is very resistant to procedures and he has been very comfortable. When he’s had troubles, they are amazing and patient. The convenience of on sight X-​rays is such a godsend. It saves time and effort dr. Sunstein and his staff are so customer service oriented, friendly, kind, etc. No surprise, we’ve notice a lot of friends send their kids here too. And, they are a bilingual office if you need. Can’t say enough good things!!!

I think the reliability of a review rests in the credibility of the reviewer, so let me preface this review by stating that I came to Dr. Sunstein as a 29 year old male having had braces and Invisalign when I was younger and a number of close friends who are practicing dentists, orthodontists, and prosthodontists. I come from a family of medical professionals and I myself am a lawyer so I understand the expectations of a service provider in a professional field. Lastly, I already had a nightguard (or «splint») made by Dr. Sunstein’s predecessor Dr. Nappen (Dr. Sunstein took over his practice), so I know what a properly-​fitting splint should look and feel like.
I misplaced the splint that Dr. Nappen had made me so I figured I would have a replacement made with Dr. Sunstein. The splint I had made with Dr. Nappen was perfect and had multiple adjustments made to it by Dr. Nappen before I was sent home to wear it. I have an open bite and the splint’s purpose is to allow my jaw to have a rested bite at night by allowing all my teeth to contact the splint at once. It also prevents my teeth from grinding and wearing down at night.
To summarize four visits to Dr. Sunstein’s office:
1) I come in for impressions. Dr. Sunstein seems like a nice guy. I feel confident that I will get a good result for my $ 550 investment in a new splint.
2) I come in to pick up my splint and have it adjusted. The splint has major gaps in the molar areas. Dr. Sunstein encourages me to wear it for several months and see if the acrylic grinds down. He makes no adjustments to it, compared to Dr. Nappen who had spent at least 45 minutes adjusting my previous splint. This seems like strange advice so I consult my orthodontist friend who is also a professor at top dental school, and he also consults with other orthodontists and prosthodontists instructors at the school. The conclusion is that the splint is completely misaligned and will cause damage to my teeth and bite if I continue to wear it.
3) I share this information with Dr. Sunstein and he encourages me to come in for another appointment. He makes some adjustments to the splint but my molars are still not touching. He seems hesitant to make me a new splint until I more bluntly ask for a new one. He then makes new impressions and sends them into the lab for a new splint. His receptionist tries to charge me and I have to remind her that I’ve already paid for the initial splint and that the replacement splint is free of charge because the initial splint was useless.
4) I come back in for what I hope to be my final visit with Dr. Sunstein. I try on the new splint and I feel several extremely heavy contact points, as opposed to a balanced and even bite throughout all the teeth. He makes one small adjustment and I still feel contact points. I tell him that I still feel contact points and he checks again and says it looks balanced and that I should wear it for 6 months. I’ve done all I can do and figure there’s no point arguing with my orthodontist despite the fact that I still feel contact points.
I wear the splint for the first night and it causes severe pain in the teeth where the contact points are. It’s the same soreness I had when I wore braces or Invisalign where you can tell the teeth are shifting. I brought my second splint to my dentist during a cleaning to get a second opinion, and he quickly confirmed that it was completely unbalanced and there was no contact in the anterior teeth. He also said that wearing it would cause my teeth to shift and would damage my existing bite.
I shared this news with Dr. Sunstein, and instead of admitting any sort of responsibility, he provided a laundry list of his credentials and said I should have said something if it wasn’t comfortable. He completely missed the point that he had twice sent me home with splints that by any objective orthodontic standard would be considered completely unbalanced and damaging to wear for a few days, let alone several months like he suggested. He also only refunded me $ 250 of the $ 550 I spent which is pretty surprising considering the splints he made for me were useless (and likely constitute dental malpractice), I returned them both to him, and he probably was refunded his lab fees anyways.
My conclusion is that if you are a teenager and have a basic orthodontic case, I’m sure Dr. Sunstein is fine and can get your teeth straight. He clearly has other good reviews on Unilocal so it’s evident he has a lot of happy patients. However, if you are an adult, have a more complex bite, or require a higher level of expertise and/​or professionalism you may want to take your oral care elsewhere.
Here are pictures of the two splints Dr. Sunstein made for me (notice the large gaps in both pictures):

Great orthodintist! The best in san diego, with great customer service, he provides top of the line and efficient techniques. I am beyond satisfied! Everyone and their grandma need to come to Dr. Sunstein :) 5 star service!

I am in the minority as one of Dr. Sunstein’s adult patients. Referred to Dr. Sunstein by my dentist (because her children went to him) as a great orthodontist, his reputation is reinforced by my experience.
Dr. Sunstein and his entire staff (who all somehow seem to remember my name despite the number of patients they see) are incredibly friendly. Julie, May, Juan, Marco, and Sheryl are all awesome, and so are the other staff who I didn’t get to know as well. They are all incredibly friendly and sincere every time I visit. The only part I miss about having braces is seeing them.
Dr. Sunstein in turn referred me to a jaw surgeon for lower jaw surgery. The surgeon he referred me to was excellent, and together they did an excellent job giving me excellent jaw and teeth alignment. I was warned that jaw surgery would be terrible, and it truly is. I’ve also had two ACL reconstruction surgeries that were much easier than the recovery from jaw surgery. 30 – 60 days after surgery things are pretty normal again. I’m sure that years down the road I’ll be very happy that I had the surgery.
Dr. Sunstein was very attentive to each step of my treatment, often making minor tweaks or modifications to the schedule based on his observations of my progress. Thanks to him I was only in braces for about 2 years (I would have finished quicker, but I lagged a bit in scheduling my surgery). Frequently, they would let me stop by before seeing my dental hygienist, take my wires off, and then put my wires back on after my dental cleaning. I never got any grief the few times I had to make unscheduled visits because I bent the wire, lost some bands, or felt the wire poking me.
From an economic perspective I really like that they charge an up-​front fee for their services, instead of pay-​as-​you-​go. They have a financial incentive to get your treatment completed as soon as possible, and they do an excellent job at that.

As the 5-​star rating suggests, this practice is «as good as it gets.» It is so rare these days to find a medical practice that runs as well as this one, from scheduling and the waiting room to top-​notch professional care and billing — they get everything just right.
Highlights:
— Most importantly, Dr. Sunstein is an excellent orthodontist. Very skilled and talented in his profession, but also extraordinarily personable, friendly, and great with kids and adults alike! Going through orthodontic treatment can be scary at times (think dentist plus), but Dr. Sunstein has a very warm and disarming personality and a great sense of humor (he cracks up my 8-​year-​old son by joking around with him during visits), making it a fun place that you actually look forward to going to instead of a scary one. (Yes, my son actually looks forward to his appointments and wishes he could go in more often!)
— Everyone who is a part of this practice is professional, conscientious, and friendly. Whoever did the hiring found a great group of professionals who all «gel» really well together and make a very pleasant medical office environment. The women at the front desk are very friendly and accommodating, and we have no preference as to which technician we get at an appointment because they are all excellent! Also, the practice is pretty evenly made up of male and female technicians, which I think is great.
— Facilities: Dr. Sunstein sees patients at two convenient locations — one in the village of La Jolla and one in Carmel Valley — and both locations are state-​of-​the-​art. There is a conference room where you can meet with the Dr. for a private initial consultation, demonstration of available treatments, and discussion of price/​payment options; there is the main exam room with multiple stations and a comfy bench along one side of the room where parents can sit near their kids during appointments; sinks with complimentary toothbrushes, mouthwash, cups, etc. where patients may brush their teeth before an appointment; a separate x-​ray room; and last (but definitely not least in the eyes of my son), a great waiting room with an old-​fashioned arcade video-​game table for two, complete with many of the classic games. (There are also flat-​screen TVs and plenty of mags for the parents too. ;)
— Scheduling/​Hours: The practice has great hours, and has always gotten us in for an emergency (broken wire or loose bracket) same day, within an hour or two of my call.
— Cost/​Payment options: The cost of treatment is definitely competitive with other orthodontists in the area, and in many cases it’s even lower. I was afraid the prices would be inflated because he’s in La Jolla, but that’s not the case. After a very reasonable down payment on the credit card, we pay only $ 200/​month (again, charged to the credit card) for my son’s treatment with NO interest.
— Giving back: Dr. Sunstein is the self-​titled «Sunny Smile Specialist,» and he really cares about helping kids and giving back to the communities that he serves. He visits local elementary schools to teach kids about proper oral care and brushing techniques, and he even has a scholarship program in place to help kids who need orthodontic care but whose families may not be able to afford treatment.
If you are looking for a great orthodontist for yourself or your child, look no further!

Dr Sunstein is awesome ! He is the best Ortodontist in la Jolla. All of the people who work there are really nice and funny. If you come here you won’t regret it!

I am SO glad we found Dr. Sunstein and his staff! We were actually referred to his office by our dentist, and being in La Jolla we thought his rates would be ridiculous. But he was actually the second orthodontist we got a quote from for my step-daughter’s treatment, and his quote was less than ¹⁄₃ of the cost that our first orthodontist consult’s quote was for (given the deal they had worked out with the insurance we had at the time), and the timing of treatment Dr. Sunstein suggested was half of that of the first orthodontist as well. They were also very reasonable when it came to monthly billing amounts, working with our insurance company, and working with us to find the most reasonable payment method possible. Dr. Sunstein and staff understand that orthodontia is a major investment, and we have always felt like they kept our interests, as well as our limited pocketbooks, in mind.
The staff at Dr. Sunstein’s are all very personable and very friendly. All of the tech’s are fantastic, and the ladies working the front desk — Julie and May — are SO GREAT! Julie has been with Dr. Sunstein since he opened his practice over a decade ago, and I can see why. Everyone at the practice seems very happy, and it shows in the kind of work that they do and the way they treat their patients and their families.
The office also has a relatively flexible schedule and when we’ve needed to have small things done — wires clipped or broken brackets repaired… they always fit us in quickly (within a day or two for a bracket, and within an hour or two for a wire).
My step-​daughter is about to get her braces off after only two years of treatment, which required a bite plate to straighten her slanted-​in bottom teeth, and a palette expander for her over-​crowded and narrow upper teeth — treatments that I’ve seen last for twice as long with other orthodontists. I’m almost sad about her treatment coming to an end because we won’t get to see the Sunny Smiles staff anymore! But when it comes time for my step-​son to get braces, we know where we’ll be going.

great place just ask for julie in the front