The College has announced the results of recent elections to six seats on its Council, with five new members elected and one re-elected.
(l-r, top row first) Re-elected CGDent Council Member Eldo Koshy and newly-elected Council Members Martin McKinstry, Charlotte Jeavons, Pejman Khaki, David Offord and Laurie Powell
Charlotte Jeavons FCGDent, Head of the School of Human Sciences at the University of Greenwich, has been elected to the National seat, which represents College members from across the UK. She began her career as a dental nurse before moving into oral health improvement with the Community Dental Service, and has been a Dental Public Health Lead and Dental Services Manager for two NHS Primary Care Trusts. With 25 years’ experience of teaching and academic leadership, she was previously the Programme Lead for Greenwich’s BSc in Public Health and MSc in Global Public Health. She holds a Certificate in Oral Health Education, a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical and Dental Teaching and Learning and an MSc in Public Health (all from Queen Mary University of London), as well as a BSc in Health and Social Care from the Open University and a PhD in Dental Public Health Ethics from City University. A Fellow of the College, she is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an Honorary Member of the Faculty of Public Health, a past Chair of the National Oral Health Promotion Group and current President of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry.
She succeeds Helen Kaney FCGDent, who is standing down after six years’ service on the College Council and its predecessor, the national board of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP).
Dr Jeavons is the first Dental Care Professional in the history of the College to be elected in a seat representing members in all dental team roles. All registered dental professionals are eligible to become Associate Members of the College, and can qualify for Full Membership, Associate Fellowship and Fellowship – which enable them to stand and vote in elections to regional seats – on equal terms.
There are two other dental nurses on the College Council, both in role-based seats – Jane Dalgarno AssocFCGDent, the elected Dental Nursing and Orthodontic Therapy representative, and Debbie Reed FCGDent, Chair of the College’s Faculty of Dental Nursing and Orthodontic Therapy.
Pejman Khaki FCGDent, Principal Dentist at a private general practice in Crawley, has been elected to the South Thames (formerly South East and South West Thames) seat. Having initially graduated with a BSc in Neuroscience from King’s College London (KCL), he qualified BDS from Bart’s and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry in 2004 before working in corporate dental practice. He has since gained Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCPS), both a Postgraduate Diploma and MSc in Dental Implantology from the University of Salford, and Fellowship of both CGDent and the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS). Actively involved in dental education, he has been an Educational Supervisor for Dental Foundation Training, ITI study club director for West Sussex, an MJDF examiner, deputy lead for the MFDS Part 2 examination and an undergraduate teacher at KCL.
He succeeds Roshni Karia MCGDent, who represented the seat on the FGDP Board and Council from 2017 until becoming President of the College last year.
Martin McKinstry FCGDent, a general dental practitioner and owner of a mixed NHS-and-private practice in Glasgow, has been elected to represent West and North Scotland. A Fellow, Foundation Member and Certified Membership Facilitator of the College, he is also a committee member of CGDent Scotland, an MFDS tutor, a VT Trainer (Educational Supervisor) and VT Adviser (Training Programme Director), and a committee member of Greater Glasgow and Clyde LDC. He graduated BDS from Glasgow in 2006 and also holds certificates in orthodontics and dental sedation, the Diploma of Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties of the RCS, a Master’s in Medical Education from the University of Sunderland, an MSc in Advanced Restorative Dentistry from the University of Manchester, and both the Diploma in Implant Dentistry and the Membership in Advanced General Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
He succeeds Patricia Thomson FCGDent, who is standing down after completing the maximum nine years’ service, which included two terms as Vice President of the College.
David Offord FCGDent, CEO of a large referral-only dental practice with clinics in Edinburgh and Kelso, has been elected to the East of Scotland seat. Born and bred in Greenock, he was in the last year group to graduate from the University of Edinburgh Dental School in 1994 and is a specialist oral surgeon. In addition to working in general practice in Edinburgh, he has been a Senior House Officer in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery units, held staff grade roles in a District General Hospital, spent two years working as a dentist in Australia and Singapore, and for five years combined oral surgery staff grade jobs with working in specialist practice. A Fellow of CGDent, he holds a Diploma in Conscious Sedation from the University of Newcastle and the Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the RCPS, and is currently working towards a PhD at the University of Ghent. For four years, he represented Scotland on the board of the Association of Dental Implantology.
He succeeds Yann Maidment FCGDent, who has represented the region since 2016 and has served as the College’s (and former FGDP’s) Research Lead since 2017.
Laurie Powell FCGDent, a GDP and partner in a three-surgery, mixed NHS-and-private practice in Bicester, has been elected to represent Wessex and Oxford. He qualified from Sheffield Dental School in 1993 and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Restorative Dentistry from the University of Bristol, where he was also a part-time clinical lecturer for undergraduate dentists and dental therapists for five years. A keen advocate of clinical research, he has been Principal Investigator for three practice-based University of Dundee studies into treatments for toothache and deep tooth decay, and is the Primary Dental Care Research Champion for Thames Valley and South Midlands. He is also currently an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Primary Care Dentistry, studying for a research-based Master’s in Primary Care at the University of Manchester. He is a Fellow of both the College and the Higher Education Academy, Chair of Oxfordshire LDC and represents primary care on the NHS Integrated Care Board for Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West.
He succeeds Sami Stagnell AssocFCGDent, who has represented the seat since 2019 and is currently leading a revision of the College’s Training Standards in Implant Dentistry publication.
Eldo Koshy FCGDent, a prosthodontist and implant dentist in Kerala, India, has been re-elected to the Overseas seat, which he has represented since the College opened, having previously held the same seat on the FGDP Board from 2019-2021.
The other members of the Council are listed here.
The Council is the voice of the College’s members, overseeing its role as a professional body and guiding its development to fulfil its mission. Elections are held annually on a rotational basis, with the Northern Ireland seat due for election in 2026.
Elected Council members serve three-year terms, and are then able to stand for re-election – subject to a lifetime limit of nine years’ service on the Council, including any past service on the FGDP Board.
Those elected this year will be inaugurated at the next Council meeting, which takes place in Sheffield on Friday 13 June on the day of the Inaugural College Lecture and Summer Reception.
Roshni Karia MCGDent, President of the College, said:
“Many congratulations to Martin, Charlotte, Pejman, David and Laurie on their election to Council, and to Eldo on his re-election. My sincere thanks on behalf of the whole College to Patricia, Yann, Helen and Sami, all of whom have served on Council since its establishment and on the FGDP Board before that. They have all remained dedicated to the College and I am grateful to them all for their hard work and steadfast commitment. I look forward to working with our new representatives of our growing membership as we continue to build the College the general dental professions need and deserve.”
