Dr. Howard Hunt
Dr. Hunt is a third-generation orthodontist with offices in Eureka and Arcata, California. Part of a large ranching family that settled in Humboldt County in the 1860s, Dr. Hunt followed his father and grandfather into orthodontics. Dr. Vernon started the practice in 1916 in a small office over the Minor Theatre in Arcata. Since then, the Hunts have maintained offices in both Eureka and Arcata.
Dr. Hunt was raised in Arcata and attended local schools, including Jacoby Creek School and Arcata High School. After graduating from Arcata High School, Dr. Hunt attended University of the Pacific in Stockton, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1976, followed by his DDS from the UOP School of Dentistry in San Francisco. Following dental school, he attended a two-year residency program at the University of Southern California, receiving in his specialty degree in orthodontics in 1981.
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Hunt has been involved in many leadership positions and dental organizations. He served as President of the Humboldt Dental Society and as the northern California Trustee on the Board of the California Dental Association for six years. Over the past eight years, he has served as a director and then officer for the Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists (PCSO), the governing body of orthodontists in the eight Western United States and four Canadian provinces. In 2007, Dr. Hunt served as president of the PCSO. Recently, Dr. Hunt was appointed to the Board of Directors for the American Association of Orthodontists' Government Relations Board in Washington, D.C. where he is working in an advocacy position on health care policy. Locally, Dr. Hunt is a long-time member of the Vector Cranio-facial Anomalies Panel, working with children with cleft palate and other birth defects. He is also active in organizations outside the field of dentistry, including the Humboldt State University Advisory Board, for which he has been a member since 1991.
Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of working and living in a small community like Humboldt County is developing close, unique relationships with patients and their families. Dr. Hunt values the relationships he has made with so many people in the community over the years, and always enjoys it when a patient comes up to him outside of the office.
Dr. Hunt and his wife Jan, a speech therapist who specializes in brain injuries, raised their three children in Humboldt County. All three are graduates of Arcata High School as well. His oldest daughter, Courtney, works at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka and is pursuing a master’s degree in journalism through the University of Nebraska, while his younger daughter, Amy, is in law school at the University of California at Berkeley. Cameron, his youngest, attends University of Colorado at Boulder.