Patricia Thomson

Patricia Thomson FCGDent is a part-time Clinical Teaching Fellow at the University of Glasgow, teaching restorative dentistry to undergraduate dental students. She previously amassed 43 years’ unbroken service as a general dental practitioner between graduating from Glasgow Dental School in 1983 and retiring from practice in 2026.

She was principal of a mixed NHS-and-private practice for over 30 years, assisting the Vocational Dental Practitioners in her practice for over 20 of these, as well as nurturing the careers of many Dental Care Professionals, associate dentists and non-clinical staff. Later she practised as a part-time associate dentist.

Heavily involved for more than two decades in the highly active West of Scotland division of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP), she tutored numerous colleagues for entry exams for the Royal Colleges and presented teaching sessions on orthodontics to vocational trainees. Elected in 2016 to represent the West and North of Scotland on the national FGDP Board, she was re-elected in 2019 and transferred to the College Council when CGDent succeeded the FGDP.

In 2021, she led the establishment of CGDent Scotland to succeed the West of Scotland division, and has since continued her involvement both in the study groups and in planning the annual study days, which have been running since 1992 and now regularly attract over 400 colleagues.

She was appointed the first Chair of the College’s Regional Funding Panel and was elected Vice-President of the College in 2022. She served a second term as Vice-President in 2023-24, and was re-elected to the Council in 2024 before standing down in 2025 after completing the maximum permitted nine years’ service. She continues to represent the College as its nominee on the NHS Education for Scotland Dental Committee, a role she has held for many years.

With a longstanding interest in orthodontics, she spent three years on a part-time clinical attachment in Glasgow Dental School’s orthodontic department, training in fixed appliance therapy, and later completed an MSc in Primary Dental Care (Dental Science) with an interest in orthodontics, achieving a distinction.

She also holds the Diploma of Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (MJDF) and the Diploma of Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (MFDS), and is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists and a Past President of the West of Scotland branch of the British Dental Association.

In 2026 she was awarded the College Medal, the College’s most prestigious honour, in recognition of her wholehearted commitment to the profession and her longstanding service to CGDent and former FGDP.

Updated 2026