Category: News

Maria Clark and Igor Blum have been re-appointed as non-voting members of the College Council for 2022-23.

Professor Igor R. Blum FCGDent has been Editor-in-Chief and Clinical Editor of the Primary Dental Journal since 2017, and is a Foundation Fellow of the College and a member of its Professional Affairs Committee.

After qualifying DDS (Hons) from Semmelweis University, Budapest, in 1995, he completed an MSc in Oral Surgery and a PhD in Restorative Dentistry at the University of Manchester, and a Doctor of Medical Dentistry degree at the University of Frankfurt, Germany. Following several years in general dental practice and working as part time clinical assistant at the Manchester Dental Hospital, he became a Clinical Lecturer/Honorary Specialist Registrar in Restorative Dentistry at Bristol Dental School.

With clinical interests encompassing all aspects of advanced restorative dentistry, Prof Blum is a GDC-registered specialist in prosthodontics, periodontics, endodontics and restorative dentistry, and has lectured widely both nationally and internationally. A Fellow in Restorative Dentistry at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and a member of the European Prosthodontic Association and the British Society for Dental Research, he has also been appointed to the Specialist Training Committee for Restorative Dentistry. He has authored six book chapters and over 80 peer-reviewed journal papers, holds several visiting professorships in Europe and the US, and is on the editorial board of several dental journals, including the Journal of Dentistry and the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry.

A member and examiner at both the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, he has also been an external examiner at the University of Kent. Holding a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, an MA in Education and an LLM (Medico-Legal), he is a member of the Association for Dental Education in Europe, which last year awarded him its Mature Career Educator Award in recognition of his excellence in dental education. He is also a Fellow of the Faculty of Dentistry of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, of the International College Dentists and of the Higher Education Academy.

He is currently Clinical Lead and Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at King’s College Hospital, and Head of the Departments of Restorative Dentistry and Primary Dental Care at King’s College Hospital Dental Institute, as well as Maurice Wohl Professor in Primary Care Dentistry and Advanced General Dental Practice at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences at King’s College London, and the university’s Director for Dental Outreach Education.

Maria Clark FFGDP(UK)(Hon.) is the College’s Patient Representative, and was previously a member of the Faculty of General Dental Practice’s Lay and Patient Panel (2016-17) and its Patient Representative (2017-21).

Her interest in health services began in 2006 when going through genetic counselling for a rare genetic condition, and she has been involved ever since both as a service user in maternity and gynaecological services and as a supporter for various family members across a range of NHS departments.

As a solicitor, she spent 10 years supporting people disabled as a result of the negligence of clinicians, employers and others, and she has worked for disability organisations and those aiming to redress the balance in health inequalities.

Driven to ensure patient views are incorporated into healthcare policies and research, Maria holds a range of public involvement and engagement positions, including being a Patient Safety Partner at NHS England, Vice-Chair of the British Medical Association’s Patient Liaison Group and Patient Champion at her local GP practice. She is also a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Women’s Network (and lay examiner for their part 3 MRCOG examination), and external research ethics reviewer (and member of the Research Ethics Committee) at the University of Sheffield.

She acted as Patient Representative during the development of both Antimicrobial Prescribing in Dentistry – Good Practice Guidelines and Implications of COVID-19 for the safe management of general dental practice: a practical guide, and was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the FGDP in 2020.

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We regret to report that Robert Leslie Morgan FFGDP(UK)(Hon.), former national board member and West Midlands regional director for the Faculty of General Dental Practice, has passed away aged 69.

Born and raised in South Wales, he was awarded the Licentiate in Dental Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1975, and graduated from Birmingham Dental School the same year. He worked at Morgan Dental Practice in Halesowen, a mixed NHS-and-private practice with an orthodontic contract, from its purchase in 1977 with his wife, Sue, until his retirement from clinical dentistry in 2012.

Always encouraging colleagues and peers to go further with their career at whatever stage, and with a particular passion for inspiring the younger generation, he was heavily involved in postgraduate dental education. In the West Midlands, he had been a member of the Postgraduate Education Board, a postgraduate tutor, coordinator for dental nurse access training and Associate Dental Dean, overseeing and running over 100 courses per year. After being awarded the MFGDP(UK), he became a regional MFGDP tutor, later serving as an examiner, then Deputy Chief Examiner, until 2009. As a member of the MFGDP Core Group he was responsible for the OSCE circuit and overseas examinations, and he was involved in planning the merger of the MFGDP and MFDS examinations into the MJDF.

He also lectured and taught throughout the UK as well as in Hong Kong, India, Gibraltar, Singapore and Nepal, on legislative and practice management topics as well as aspects of the MFDGP and MDJF. He achieved the Award in Medical Education from the University of Warwick, and later became an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at its medical school, and for three years he was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Kent, as well as Quality Assurance lead for its MSc in Primary Dental Care.

Bob was on the FGDP West Midlands divisional board for over fifteen years, including three as Divisional Director, and served on the FGDP Education Committee throughout his thirteen years as an elected representative on the National Faculty Board. He contributed to the Legislation and Good Practice Guidelines module of the Faculty’s Key Skills in Primary Dental Care e-learning package, wrote a series of articles about Key Skills for First Hand (one of the forerunners of the Primary Dental Journal), and was a member of the Interfaculty Membership Development Group of the FGDP and the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FDS). Achieving Fellowship of the FDS in 2008, he was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the FGDP in 2012.

He was a member of the BDA, on Dudley LDC for over 30 years, and for four years acted as Regional Advisor and Consultant Clinical Assessor for Bupa Dental Cover. Also actively involved in the community outside of dentistry, he was a member of the West Midlands Library Development Group, Chairman of Belbroughton Parish Council, and Area Chairman and past President of the local Round Table. He was also Chairman of the PTA during the school years of his daughter, Sarah – who is now a dental hygienist and dental team representative on the College Council.

On top of his many professional and civic involvements, Bob had a rich array of hobbies and sporting interests. A French speaker, he enjoyed family caravanning holidays in the south of France, as well as skiing trips to the French, Swiss and Austrian Alps. He was a fan of Welsh rugby, liked playing tennis, ran the London and Paris marathons, and made the Guinness Book of Records in 1982 for driving around Britain. He was a keen gardener, photographer and party host, his Christmas lights were said to be better than the Blackpool Illuminations, and he enjoyed taking his granddaughters Georgia and Louisa ‘Gruffalo hunting’ in the woods near their home.

He was kind, generous, welcoming, and had a cheeky smile that belied his strong will. He was very ill in 2011, but survived against all the odds and continued to play an active but non-clinical role in his practice. He passed away peacefully at Worcestershire Royal Hospital on Thursday 14 July 2022, with Sue and Sarah by his side and surrounded by his favourite flowers from his pride and joy of a garden.

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The College of General Dentistry (CGDent) has announced the results of recent elections to its Council, with two new members elected, and five re-elected.

(l-r, top row first) New CGDent Council Members-Elect Subir Banerji and Sagi Shavit, and re-elected Council Members Helen Kaney, Eldo Koshy, Patricia Thomson, Yann Maidment and Sami Stagnell

Subir Banerji FCGDent has been elected to the Central London seat, succeeding Reena Wadia, who served as a member of the National Board of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP) from 2016-21.

Dr Banerji works as a general dental practitioner in the same private dental practice in Ealing which he joined after graduating from Newcastle Dental School in 1987. He is particularly interested in restorative, aesthetic, prosthodontic and implant dentistry, and has over 20 years’ experience of teaching undergraduate and postgraduate dentists both nationally and internationally. Also involved in dental research, he has published articles in numerous international peer-reviewed journals, and is the co-author of books including Practical Procedures in the Management of Tooth Wear and Practical Procedures in Aesthetic Dentistry.

He has both an MClinDent (Prosthodontics) and a PhD from King’s College London, where he is the Programme Director of the highly regarded MSc in Aesthetic Dentistry as well as a PhD supervisor. He is an Associate Professor in Prosthodontics at Melbourne Dental School, an advisor to the General Dental Council, on the editorial board of the Academy of Dental Excellence, director of his own postgraduate educational academy, and Head of Continuing Medical Education at i2i Telesolutions Pvt Ltd.

Sagi Shavit MCGDent has been elected to the Yorkshire and Northern seat previously held by Onkar Dhanoya FCGDent – Chair of the College’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Programme Board and its Professional Affairs Committee, and a former Senior Vice Dean of the FGDP – who has stepped down after eight years’ service as an elected representative of the two organisations.

Dr Shavit was born in Israel and was a Captain in the Israel Defense Forces before studying to be a dentist, graduating DMD in Romania in 2009. He soon developed a special interest in endodontics, and after moving to the UK undertook a number of training courses, including microsurgical endodontics, gaining an MSc in Endodontics from the University of Chester in 2015.

Working in a mixed NHS-and-private practice in Darlington, since 2016 he has limited his practice to endodontics, accepting difficult endodontic referrals. He also developed a technique to apply hydraulic cements into perforations and wide canals using his patented Shavit Pellet Former, a push-through mechanism that creates pellets of endodontic cement of predetermined diameters and lengths.

In 2017 he was awarded the MFGDP(UK), and the following year he completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Dental Implantology at the City of London Dental School, where he is now a tutor in endodontics. He is also a visiting lecturer at Tipton Training, runs day courses on endodontics in the North East, and has completed an accredited sedation course and begun providing treatment to anxious patients under intravenous sedation.

Helen Kaney FCGDent, Eldo Koshy FCGDent, Patricia Thomson AssocFCGDent, Yann Maidment MCGDent and Sami Stagnell AssocFCGDent have been re-elected to represent, respectively, the National, Overseas, West & North Scotland, East of Scotland and Wessex & Oxford seats.

Dr Kaney is Head of Dental Services in Scotland for Dental Protection, a dually qualified dentist and solicitor, and Vice-Chair of the College’s Professional Affairs Committee. As well as practising general dentistry for many years, she has worked as a clinical assistant in restorative dentistry, a Senior Dento-Legal Adviser and a solicitor acting for dentists and doctors. A Fellow of both the College of General Dentistry and of the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians, she holds an MBA and is a founding member of the Dental Law and Ethics Forum.

Dr Koshy is a prosthodontist and implant dentist in Kerala, India. Previously Vice-Principal and Head of the Department of Prosthodontics and Implantology at KMCT Dental College, Kozhikode, he has lectured and delivered training across India, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry.

Dr Thomson has worked in general dental practice since 1983, became a principal in 1985, sold her practice in 2017, and now works as a part-time associate. She has provided mixed NHS and private care, and has an interest in orthodontics. She has tutored colleagues for entry exams for the Royal Colleges, presented teaching sessions on orthodontics to vocational trainees, and delivers postgraduate lectures at RCPS Glasgow. She served on the FGDP(UK) National Board from 2016-2021, and is currently Chair of the College of General Dentistry’s Regional Funding Panel. She has also served as President of the West of Scotland branch of the BDA, and is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists.

Dr Maidment qualified from Edinburgh in 1984, becoming a partner in his dental practice in the city in 1987, and then associate in 2019. In 2002, he was awarded a DDS for his research comparing the effectiveness of different modes of CPD. He has held research assistant posts at the University of Edinburgh, served on BDA committees for 11 years and lectured on the use of acupuncture in dentistry. He is a past President of the Royal Odonto-Chirurgical Society of Scotland, and has represented the East of Scotland on the FGDP(UK) National Board, and now the College Council, since 2016. He is the College’s Research Lead and a member of its Professional Affairs Committee.

Dr Stagnell graduated in 2009 and is now a specialist oral surgeon, running a referrals practice in Bournemouth supporting both NHS and private patients. In 2015 he was awarded a merit in his MSc in Aesthetic Dentistry at King’s College London, in 2018 he achieved an MSc in Skin Ageing and Aesthetic Medicine at the University of Manchester, and he is completing an MSc in implantology with the University of Madrid. Chair of the College of General Dentistry’s Membership Affairs Committee, he is active in the BDA and Royal Society of Medicine, and was one of Health Education England’s first Clinical Leadership and Management Fellows. He is also an ITI Implant Scholar and a member of the working group which developed the College’s recently-published Mentoring in Implant Dentistry: Good Practice Guidelines.

The College is the independent professional body into which the FGDP transferred last year. The UK’s only medical college run by and for oral health professionals, it is unique in welcoming all dental and oral health professionals with relevant postgraduate qualifications into full membership.

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 seats representing Wales, Northern Ireland, and the South East & South West Thames and North East & North West Thames regions due for election in 2023, and South West England, Trent & East Anglia, Mersey & the North West and the West Midlands due in 2024.

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(UK) National Board. Those elected this year will be inaugurated at the next Council meeting, which takes place in Cardiff on Friday 24 June 2022.

Abhi Pal FCGDent, President of the College, said:

“Many congratulations to Subir and Sagi on their election to the Council, and to Helen, Eldo, Patricia, Yann and Sami on their re-election. I look forward to drawing on their vast and varied experience, knowledge and expertise as the College continues to fulfil its historic mission.

“I would also like to thank Onkar and Reena for their dedication and service to the College and Faculty, and for their collegiality and advice during my Presidency of the College and Deanship of the Faculty.”

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