Friday 13 June 2025, 2pm-4.30pm
The Old Banqueting Hall, Cutlers’ Hall, 7-15 Church St, Sheffield S1 1HG
The Inaugural College of General Dentistry Lecture was delivered by Martin Kelleher FCGDent.
‘Satisficing’ standards in dentistry: Who decides? Who benefits? challenged the notion of the ‘ideal treatment plan’ and contended that subconscious bias and possible self-interests can lead some supposed experts to confuse their version of a questionable ‘gold standard’ with what is really in a patient’s overall best interests and with what the law expects.
Intended to stimulate and provoke healthy debate, the lecture built on the rich legacy of the Malcolm Pendlebury Lectures hosted by the College’s predecessor organisation, the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP).
Martin Kelleher has been a Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at King’s College Hospital, London since 1984 and has well- known interests in solving seemingly complex dental problems with various minimally destructive approaches. He is on the GDC specialist lists for Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics and owned his own practice in Bromley, Kent for nearly 40 years.
He is a Fellow of the Faculties of Dental Surgery at the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Edinburgh and England, as well as the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He is also a Fellow of the College of General Dentistry, a Fellow and former President of the British Society for Restorative Dentistry, and a former Chairman of the Southern Counties Branch of the British Dental Association.
Mr Kelleher graduated from University College Dublin in 1971, holds a Master’s degree in Conservative Dentistry and is the author or co-author of very numerous peer-reviewed articles on a wide variety of topics, as well as chapters in dental textbooks and a book on dental bleaching. He served on the board of Dental Protection for a decade, including three years as Chair of its Advisory Committee for Dental Claims. He is a renowned speaker, having lectured to many national dental associations and specialist societies as well as internationally for over 40 years.
CPD approx. 2 hours
Members of the College were invited to attend a self-funding lunch prior to the lecture, hosted by Sir Nairn Wilson CBE and the 1992 Circle, which took place at 12pm-2pm.
Registration for the inaugural College of General Dentistry Lecture started at 2pm, with the lecture and Q&A taking place from 2.30pm-4.30pm. This was followed by the College Summer Reception from 5pm-8pm, including the ceremonial admission of Associate Fellows and new Fellows of the College.
For these events, we also gathered alumni, course directors and examiners to celebrate the achievements of the Diploma in Restorative Dentistry programme which was established 20 years ago by our predecessor organisation, the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP).
All dental professionals, and others with professional interests in contemporary dental practice, were eligible to attend both the Inaugural College Lecture and Summer Reception.
Students and staff at the University of Sheffield who wished to attend the College Lecture were asked to email us at contact@cgdent.uk using the subject header ‘University of Sheffield place at Lecture’
Tickets were priced as follows:
| Lecture only | Reception only | Lecture & Reception | |
| Member or Fellow | £20 | £55 | £65 |
| Non-member | £30 | £75 | £95 |
Associate Fellows and recent Fellows expecting to be ceremonially admitted could book their place at the reception free of charge until 30 April.
Non-members or existing members applying for Fellowship who wished to be ceremonially admitted at the reception were advised to submit their applications as soon as possible in order to allow enough time for admissions procedures to be completed.
Information on eligibility for Fellowship of the College (FCGDent) and Associate Fellowship (AssocFCGDent) is available here
