Roshni Karia MCGDent has been appointed as the next President of the College of General Dentistry.
Dr Karia is a general dental practitioner in London, with a special interest in periodontology. She has worked as an Associate Dentist in London and in Surrey, providing general dentistry as well as periodontal treatment.
Since 2015 she has been an undergraduate Clinical Tutor and Examiner in the department of periodontology at the Faculty of Dentistry and Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, King’s College London. Recently, she has also become Postgraduate Tutor, within the subjects of Clinical Practice, Education and Healthcare Leadership, with Medics Academy, in a postgraduate programme accredited by the University of Central Lancashire.
She graduated from King’s College London in 2010 before completing Vocational Training at a mixed NHS-and-private dental practice in Plumstead, London. This was followed by training in restorative and paediatric dentistry, oral surgery, oral medicine and acute dental care as a Senior House Officer at King’s College Hospital.
She completed the Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) in 2011, won the British Society of Restorative Dentistry’s Gary Pollock Postgraduate Prize in 2012, and completed an enhanced two-year postgraduate study programme in periodontology at King’s College London NHS Foundation Trust in 2013.
She joined the former Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP), the forerunner of the College, in 2012, and in 2015 was appointed as one of two Early Careers Representatives, a non-voting role on the organisation’s national board. In 2017 she was elected to the board to represent members in the South East and South West Thames region, later serving as Chair of the Education & Qualifications Committee, Chair of the Membership Affairs Committee and as a member of the COVID-19 Forward Planning Group. In 2019, she was elected as the Faculty’s youngest ever Vice Dean, and she was re-elected to her regional seat in 2020. She represented the Faculty on Public Health England’s Child Oral Health Improvement Board and in roundtable discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care ahead of the Prevention Green Paper.
Transferring to the College Council when the Faculty separated from the RCS in 2021, she is Chair of the Certified Membership Scheme Programme Board and a member of the Career Pathways Programme Board, and was re-elected on to the Council in 2023. She has also served as Chair of the Professional Affairs Committee and Chair of the Careers and Training Committee, was elected Senior Vice-President in 2021, and is a facilitator for the CGDent NextGen leadership programme.
She has represented the College on two working groups convened by the British Society of Periodontology to implement the EFP S3-level guidelines on the management and treatment of Stages I-III periodontitis and the prevention and treatment of peri-implant diseases, and was also the College’s lead reviewer of the recently-published SDCEP guidelines on prevention and treatment of periodontal disease.
A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2020, she successfully completed the Healthcare Leadership Academy Scholarship Programme in 2022, and in 2023 she was awarded the University of Central Lancashire’s Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Practice, Management and Education, with distinction. She has also written and co-authored articles in the British Dental Journal, Primary Dental Journal and Dental Update, and was a contributor to the CGDent-FGDP guidance, Implications of COVID-19 for the safe management of general dental practice.
Appointed for a three-year term, she will be inaugurated on 21 June 2024 at a meeting of the College Council in London. She will be the first female President or Dean in the history of the College and former Faculty, the first Associate Dentist in the role, and the College’s third President following Abhi Pal FCGDent (2021-24) and Sir Nairn Wilson CBE FCGDent (2017-2021).
Commenting on her appointment, Dr Karia said:
“I feel incredibly humbled, blessed and privileged and thank the College Council for the tremendous faith they have placed upon me in this role. I would like to also extend my gratitude to Abhi Pal, my predecessors and the staff team for their outstanding leadership, hard work and tireless dedication to the organisation. Much has been achieved thus far and the College finds itself at an extremely exciting time to further develop its aspirations for the benefit of the whole profession and our patients; truly celebrating the breadth of the whole oral healthcare team. The tenacity and determination that many of our fantastic colleagues have demonstrated has allowed the College to embrace a unique opportunity and I congratulate all those involved. As we build upon these vital foundations, with a growing membership, I look forward to working across the profession to bring further focus on career progression, empowering colleagues and ultimately advancing dentistry for the benefit of all our patients.”
Abhi Pal, current President of the College, added:
“Many congratulations to Roshni on her appointment to the role of President. Roshni is a richly experienced practitioner, with a proven commitment to postgraduate education and teaching as well as having a detailed understanding of dental careers. She is a highly respected colleague, and members should be delighted that the College will be in such good hands as we move forward.”