Dr. Kristen Ritzau opened Shoreline Dental Studio at 122 Avenida Cabrillo in December 2012. When she started the practice, she had two employees, which included her office manager husband and one assistant. Today, the practice has grown to 18 employees consisting of another dentist, Dr. Colby Livingston, four hygienists, five dental assistants, one office manager, and six administrative staff. Dr. Ritzau graduated first in her class, Summa Cum Laude, from UCLA School of Dentistry. 

With the practice thriving, Dr. Colby Livingston came on board in January, 2016. “Dr. Livingston, I presume,” also lives in San Clemente … and she does. She graduated from the University of the Pacific in San Francisco, and did her post-graduate residency at Loma Linda VA. She was thrilled to join the practice, and move to San Clemente. Dr. Livingston and her husband, Connor, love dining at restaurants downtown and walking the beach trail with their bulldog, Gordon.

According to Dr. Ritzau, the goal of the practice is to provide comprehensive care by focusing on the entire mouth. They offer full hygiene services, restorative options, and are the number one provider of Invisalign in South Orange County. For those with dental anxiety, sedation dentistry is also available. The process gives the patient a feeling of sleeping and can make a five-hour session seem like twenty minutes. 

Regarding her incredible staff, Dr. Ritzau says, “We do our best to create an outstanding work environment in an office of 17 women and one man. Some of the staff chooses to drive over an hour to work here even though they could get a job closer to where they live.” 

The team has weekly leadership meetings at Café Calypso across the street, and is up-to-date on new technology and training. They use a digital scanner, which is a fancy way to track changes in a patient’s mouth. This process presents a three-dimensional digital smile-design model. 

Dr. Ritzau is proud to say that she is a third-generation San Clemente resident. Her grandfather was a Marine, and her grandmother was a nurse at San Clemente Hospital. They moved to San Clemente in the 1950s. Her mom, Jeannie Moore, was raised in San Clemente, and her dad, Larry Moore, was a city employee for 30 years. Dr. Ritzau and her husband, Cory, with their children Haley, 5, and Hunter, 2, are happy to carry on the San Clemente local legacy.