Pickering & Allen celebrates three decades of high-quality, innovative orthodontics
By Dylan Balle | Photography by Audrey Stephens
Appeared in Cityview Magazine, Vol. 41, Issue 6 (Nov/Dec 2025)
What does it take to make the perfect smile? It takes an orthodontist with a scientist’s mind but an artist’s eye. More than that, though, it takes a dedicated team, all working together to make sure each and every patient walks out of the office not just with the pearliest whites but the perfect bite, teeth able to tackle whatever the world throws at them.
“The best compliment that I can ever get is when somebody says, ‘That person’s got a beautiful smile. They don’t have the orthodontic smile,’” says Dr. Jim Pickering, founder of Pickering & Allen Orthodontics. “And I look at them and I say, ‘Well, yeah, I treated them.’”
Since 1995, when Dr. Pickering first opened the doors of what would become Pickering & Allen, the goal has always been to create smiles that are both beautiful and functional.
“We started with one patient a day,” says Dr. Pickering. But over the past 30 years, the practice has grown to become a trusted staple of Knoxville orthodontics, and Dr. Pickering has put together a team of experts that elevate the practice further, from fellow orthodontist Dr. Tyler Allen to Gina and Jill at the front desk.
Dr. Tyler Allen and Dr. James Pickering celebrating 30 years in business.
“We’ve been blessed with the ability to care for a lot of patients,” says Dr. Pickering, “and the team is very vital to any success we have.”
Growth in the size of the team and public trust haven’t been the only drivers behind Pickering & Allen’s success; innovation has always been a key part of Dr. Pickering’s approach to medicine. Techniques have evolved since he first began working on Knoxville’s smiles, and he’s been committed since day one to evolve with them.
“I don’t practice orthodontics at all like I was taught in school, because that was back in the 90s,” says Dr. Pickering. One new technique – Miniscrew-Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion (or MARPE) – has allowed Dr. Pickering and Dr. Allen to improve the breathing of patients and tackle problems such as sleep apnea; previous treatments were restricted to children or required invasive surgery, but this new treatment allows for it to be handled in-office for adults, not only helping their sleep challenges but also reducing the risk of damage to their teeth.
Perhaps the most common examples he gives of innovations in the practice, however, are braces. In his own childhood, a child’s braces had to be held in place by rubber bands; these days, he can offer passive self-ligating brackets, which is a fancy way of saying braces that stay in place all on their own. This seemingly small change can make a substantial long-term difference in one’s dental hygiene, since more of the teeth are regularly able to be cleaned. There are even clear options for self-ligating brackets, providing near-invisible correction, as well as tools like Invisalign.
“It’s given us a whole array of options for aesthetic treatment,” says Dr. Pickering.
Thirty years after it first opened, Pickering & Allen Orthodontics is still going strong, and Dr. Pickering looks forward to helping patients new and old achieve their perfect smile and bite.
“My favorite thing is seeing that final result, hearing them say, ‘Gosh, this is exactly what I was hoping for,’” says Dr. Pickering. “Because who doesn’t want a beautiful smile?”
4741 N. Broadway, Suite C
& 120 Capital Dr. Suite 104
Knoxville | 865-687-9412
pickeringorthodontics.com
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