About Dr. Peter Pellegrini

"I love making people smile, and feel privileged to work in a profession that allows me to do that full time." 

Dr. Peter Pellegrini was born and raised on St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He received a full academic scholarship to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry, having graduated first in his class, Summa cum Laude in 2000.

Dr. Pellegrini received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Washington. He graduated as one of the top of his dental class, and is a recipient of the Omikron Kappa Upsilon certificate for merit as well as numerous awards for his research and clinical excellence. Dr. Pellegrini received his orthodontic specialty training at the Oregon Health Sciences University, in Portland, Oregon. It was at OHSU where Dr. Pellegrini also earned a Masters degree in the Science of Orthodontics. Since then, in addition to working in the clinic full time, Dr. Pellegrini has also continued to conduct clinical studies investigating different orthodontic brackets. The results of his research have been published in the prestigious American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics as well as the Quintessence Orthodontic Journal. He is an advocate of evidence-based dentistry and innovative advances in orthodontics in various orthodontic journals, and is the author of several publications. 

Dr. Pellegrini is a member of several professional organizations including the American Association of Orthodontists, World Federation of Orthodontists, Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, American Dental Association, Washington State Dental Association, Snohomish County Dental Society, University of Washington School of Dentistry Alumni Association, and the OHSU Orthodontic Alumni Association. He is also a founding member of the Orthodontic Research and Comaraderie Association (ORCA), and a member of the Snohomish County Dental Society's Executive Commitee.

Dr. Pellegrini has been married to his wife Alexis since 2003, and she is also an alumnus of the UW. They have two children, Nicolas and Gia.  Alexis works in web and graphic design for a special events company. Dr. Pellegrini’s hobbies include snowboarding, golf, mountain biking and basketball, playing the guitar, and spending time with his two kids and dogs.

Fun Facts About Dr. Pellegrini

What Is Your Favorite Sports Team?

"I'm a big sports fan, so choosing just one is difficult. I graduated from both UCLA and UW so of course I support both of my alma maters. But if I had to choose a few of my favorite professional teams I would have to choose the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, and of course the Seattle Mariners."

What Is Your Favorite Band?

"The Beatles, hands down, no competition."

Where do you like to vacation?

"I love living in the Northwest, but during the winter months I need sun! So going with my family to Hawaii is always fun. I also do love to snowboard too, and we recently started visiting Suncadia which is great because its so close to Snoqualmie."

What do you like to do for fun?

"I am a man of many hobbies so it's easy for me to have fun doing just about anything. But I love playing my guitar and writing music, snowboarding, and archery. I really enjoy doing activities that I can share with my wife and kids so I also love coaching, playing just about any sport at a park or in my backyard, and watching sports with my son."

Did you always want to be an orthodontist?

"Well I always knew I wanted to go into the medical field, but when I discovered dentistry I really appreciated that I could have a job with regular hours so I could be with my family as much as possible. I also really love being with people and orthodontics allows me to meet awesome new people everyday. It's really a great job for me."

Tell us something we may not know about you.

"When I was in college I was a guitar player in a band called 5 Apples Tall. The closest we made it to stardom was being an opening band for a local band called Kara's Flowers. Later Kara's Flowers went on to become quite famous. They changed their name to Maroon 5....ever heard of them???"

What Is Your Favorite Ice Cream Flavor?

"Pistachio. And if there is a good local gelato shop that anyone is aware of I need to know about it."

How Many Pets Do You Have?

"I have two dogs, a Shih Tzu/Poodle Mix named Guido and a Goldendoodle named Bow."

What Is Your Favorite TV Show?

"You know I'm not a huge TV show watcher, but I love sports so does Monday Night Football count?"

What Is Your Favorite Movie?

"My all time favorite movie is the Wizard of Oz. I don't care how old you are, it's still a great movie."