Congratulations to College Fellow Mhari Coxon, who has been recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list.
Currently Head of Marketing & Communications at Sureserve, and a registered dental hygienist for almost 30 years, Mhari Coxon FCGDent has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to oral health.
She began her career in dentistry in 1992, completing a Certificate in Dental Assisting with the University of Glasgow in 1994, followed by a Diploma in Dental Hygiene from King’s College London in 1996. She practised in both general practice and hospital environments for 14 years, and from 2007 began a parallel career as a healthcare marketing consultant and as Managing Director of CPDforDCP Ltd.
Since 2011 she has worked exclusively in healthcare marketing, initially as Senior Professional Marketing Manager for Philips, then as Medical Marketing Manager for Reckitt Benckiser. This was followed by the positions of Global Marketing Manager for Health Care Professions and Global Category Digital Marketing Manager at GlaxoSmithKline and in 2020 she became Healthcare and Prescription Marketing Strategy Lead for Northern Europe at Johnson & Johnson. In 2022 she moved to the Adelphi Group as Group Marketing Director before taking up her current role in 2024.
She joined the College of General Dentistry in 2021, became a Fellow in 2023, and was previously a longstanding DCP Member of the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP). She served on the Faculty’s Dental Care Professionals Committee, as the DCP Editor of the Primary Dental Journal (PDJ), and in 2015 as co-guest-editor of the PDJ themed issue on communication, complaints and consent.
She sits on the British Dental Industry Association’s Board of Advisors, is a mentor for both the Chartered Institute of Marketing and for the government’s Help to Grow scheme for small businesses, and was previously a mentor for The Prince’s Trust. In 2014, she was appointed to the Oral Health Foundation’s Board of Trustees, acting as a Trustee and Non-Executive Director until 2025, including as Chair. She served as the organisation’s thirteenth President from 2021-23.
In addition to her dental qualifications, she holds an MSc in Marketing and Marketing Management from the University of Liverpool and a Condensed MBA in Business Administration and Management from the University of Brighton. She has also completed the Institute of Leadership and Management’s Level 7 Certificate in Executive Business Mentoring, Business Administration and Management, and has recently been admitted to the City and Guilds of London Institute.
A member of the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy, she is a past member of both its Council and its Publications Committee, and was Chair of the London Regional Group from 2006-10. She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Association of Business Mentors, and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.