Creating beautiful smiles for three generations

For 90 years, practice has offered orthodontics for kids, adults

By: Charlie Mathews, Herald Times Reporter

MANITOWOC — Jeff Just doesn't take a train to work and he charges more than 50 cents for tooth extractions.

But he is the third generation of Just men to enjoy providing dental and orthodontia services to Lakeshore area patients since 1919.

"Retirement is a long ways away … not even in the back of my mind," said Just, 47, the owner of Just Orthodontics, 340 Reed Ave.

His "Grampy," William Just, has passed away, after retiring at the age of 65 from the dental practice that he started in Maribel in 1919 after attending the Marquette Dental School.

"He would take the train from Manitowoc, where he lived, to his office in Maribel," Jeff wrote in a profile of his grandfather. "Sometimes, when he worked late on Saturday he would miss the last train and have to walk home a distance of about 12 miles."

William Just had two children including Harold "Hal" Just, father of Jeff, and an orthodontist from 1960 to retirement on his 65th birthday in 1993.

Hal Just is the one who built the office on Reed Avenue, moving the practice from the Dempsey Building downtown, where Jeff now sees thousands of patients, aided by five full-time and two part-time employees.

As a specialist in orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, Just practices the art and science of straightening irregular teeth and realigning poorly positioned jaws to produce not only straight teeth but also properly aligned jaws.

Less time, more adults

Hal and Jeff Just recently sat down to share progress in the field of orthodontia, as well as what's stayed the same.

Hal, who went to Northwestern University in Chicago for both dental and orthodontia studies, said patients still need to brush their teeth and keep them clean. Some adolescents and teens need more motivation than others.

Hal had a tight schedule when he was practicing and patient punctuality remains paramount with Jeff.

"I won't be late for anybody and I don't expect them to be late for me," he said, noting about three-quarters of patients are seen for adjustments between 3 and 5 p.m. because of work or school obligations.

The second generation Just didn't have that many adult patients but the third generation orthodontist said about 30 percent of his patients in 2009 are in their 20s and beyond.

Jeff said many adults didn't have the opportunity to have braces as teens, may feel self-conscious and develop more self-confidence after a nicer looking smile is created.

"Teeth can only move so quickly," said Jeff, father, with wife, Sue, of Braden, 15, Ethan, 14, and Owen, 4.

But where Hal's patients usually needed two to three years till they were done having "metal mouth," Jeff can usually predict a course of treatment lasting less than 18 months.

With less pain, too, than Hal's patients in the 1960s and 1970s when the wire used in the braces was stainless steel.

Today's "self-ligating brackets" use nickel and titanium today, "applying a much gentler, continual force versus push-stop," Jeff said.

Typically, only three to five long appointments are required during the course of orthodontic treatment. Adjustments are often made about eight weeks apart, compared to three weeks several decades ago.

Facebook, YouTube, HDTV

Jeff Just realizes video images can say a thousand words so he posted to YouTube a six-minute video showing what's involved in having braces put on at the beginning of treatment.

"It shows that there's nothing really scary or painful that's going to happen," he said.

When visiting Jeff to talk with a reporter, Harold marveled at the widescreen HDTV in a consulting room where his son shows time-lapse video with mouths full of crooked teeth morphing into smiles any child or adult will be willing to show off.

The video was produced by Braden who Jeff has acquainted with the challenges of running a 21st century orthodontics practice.

It's too early too tell if any of Jeff's sons will become the fourth generation Just earning an undergraduate degree, and then attending a dental college for four more years, and adding two years on top of that if specializing in orthodontics.

It's a long, rigorous academic haul with plenty of challenging biology, chemistry, and physics courses.
Jeff earned his bachelor's in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then his dental degree from Marquette in 1988 followed by two years of orthodontia training at Northwestern.

Becoming an orthodontist also is daunting from a fiscal perspective. Jeff said it is not unusual for a young orthodontist, after 10 years of college, to graduate with $500,000 of student debt.

But Jeff said his father's career choice influenced him, as did the fact he has several relatives who are dentists, orthodontists or dental hygienists.

"Orthodontists are life-long students," Jeff said. "The state requires 15 hours a year of continuing education but my goal is to always have, at least, three times that to stay on top of technology that's ever changing.

"What I do is fun and as long as I can do it, I will."

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