Meet Our Staff
Dr. James L. Vaden has practiced orthodontics in Cookeville, TN since June 1972 when he received a Masters Degree in Orthodontics from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry. During this period of time he has provided orthodontic care and/or consultation to well over 10,000 patients, both children and adults. He continues to practice at the same location. The facility has been updated several times and continues to enable him and his well trained staff to provide excellent orthodontics to patients who desire their services.
Dr. Vaden was raised on a dairy, beef and tobacco farm in Williamson County, Tennessee. He grew up farming and still farms in the Buck Mountain area of Putnam County. He attended Vanderbilt University where he received a B.A. degree in History. He then went to dental school at the University of Tennessee and also received his graduate orthodontic training at the University of Tennessee.
In addition to his private practice, Dr. Vaden has authored well over 50 articles which have appeared in peer reviewed orthodontic journals. He has also authored or co-authored at least 10 book chapters in various orthodontic textbooks. He has given over 200 major lectures to national as well as international groups.
Since 1980 he has taught in the Graduate Department of Orthodontics at the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry. He served from 1999 - 2010 as the Professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthodontics for the University of Tennessee. He continues to teach at the University of Tennessee and holds the academic rank of Professor. In addition to his service to the University of Tennessee, he was an adjunct clinical professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1991 until 2000. Because of his teaching "hobby", Dr. Vaden has some rather long commutes. His car now knows the way to Memphis by heart and can get there without a driver!
Outside the university, Dr. Vaden has also been of service to the specialty of orthodontics by being selected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Southern Association of Orthodontists and as a Director of the American Board of Orthodontists, the official certification body in the specialty of orthodontics. He culminated his service to the American Board of Orthodontists by serving as its President in 1999/2000. In 2007, Dr. Vaden completed a four-year term as the orthodontic representative on the Commission on Dental Accreditation, the accrediting body for all dental education, and he continues to serve the accreditation process as a member of the Orthodontic Review Committee. Since 1988, he has been an Assistant Course Director for the Tweed Study Course in Tucson, AZ. This two week wire bending course is given twice each year. Each class is composed of 100 orthodontists from around the world. Teaching all of these people from so many different countries has definitely given Dr. Vaden an international perspective on his specialty.
On a personal note, Dr. Vaden is married to Dr. Beverly Hedgepeth and has a daughter, Meg, an attorney in New York City. He and Beverly reside on a farm in the Buck Mountain area where they raise Black Angus cattle, restore old John Deere tractors and watch ground hogs grow!
The StaffThe staff that works with Dr. Vaden has over 100 years of combined experience in orthodontics. The two registered dental assistants - Susan Johnson and Debbie Strickland are an integral part of the orthodontics care delivery team. They are highly skilled and extremely qualified. Experience matters!
Patients who come into the office are greeted by Myra Case who has been "the voice" at the front desk for the past 15 years. Ellen Kennedy, who has worked in the office for over 28 years, still occasionally works at the front desk but mainly works behind-the-scenes on the days that she is in the office.
These four staff members make it possible for Dr. Vaden to practice orthodontics in the Upper Cumberland and teach orthodontics at the University of Tennessee and around the world. "Team work" is the vital ingredient to the success of the practice and to the success of the many things that Dr. Vaden tries to do for the specialty of orthodontics and the profession of dentistry.
