Chief Dental Officers (United Kingdom) Explained

The Chief Dental Officers (or CDOs) in the United Kingdom are the most senior advisors for dentistry in each of the four UK governments, and are the heads of the dental profession.^{[1] [2]} The CDO is one of the six chief professional officers, one for each of six professions, to give advice in their respective speciality.^[3]

List of Chief Dental Officers for England

• William G Senior, 1956–1961
• William Holgate, 1961–1971
• George D Gibb, 1972–1984
• Professor Martin Downer, 1984–1990^{[4] [5]}
• Brian Mouatt, 1990–1996
• Robin Wild, 1997–2000^[6]
• Dame Margaret Seward, 2000–2002^[7]
• Professor Raman Bedi, 2002–2005^{[8] [9]}
• Barry Cockcroft, 2005–2015^{[1] [9]} (acting 2005 to 2006)^[3]
• Sara Hurley, 2015–2023
• Jason Wong, 2023–

List of Chief Dental Officers for Scotland

• Thomas HJ Douglas, 1956–1959
• James W Galloway, 1959–1971
• Dr James L Trainer, 1971–1979
• Dr Martin C Downer, 1979–1983^[4]
• Norman K Colquhoun, 1984–1993
• J Robin Wild, 1993–1997
• T Ray Watkins, 1997–2007^[10]
• M Margie Taylor, 2007–2018^[11]
• Tom Ferris, 2018–^[12]

List of Chief Dental Officers for Wales

• William G Senior, 1956–1961
• William Holgate, 1961–1971
• George D Gibb, 1972–1984
• Dighton R Edwards, 1984–1985
• David M Heap, 1986–1996
• Dr Paul Langmaid, 1996–2010
• Dr David Thomas, 2010–2016
• Dr Colette Bridgman, 2016–2021
• Andrew Dickenson, 2022-

List of Chief Dental Officers for Northern Ireland

• William G Senior, 1956–1961
• William Holgate, 1961–1971
• George D Gibb, 1972–1984
• James F Mageean, 1984–1990
• William J N Collins, 1990–1998
• Doreen Wilson, 1998–2006
• Donncha O'Carolan, 2006–2013
• Simon C Reid, 2013–2020
• Michael Donaldson, 2020–2021 (acting)
• Caroline Lappin, 2021–

See also

• Chief Medical Officers (United Kingdom)

References

• Open Wide – Memoir of the Dental Dame, Dame Margaret Seward, published by The Memoir Club,

Notes and References

1. Web site: Chief Dental Officer. Department of Health (UK). live. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130104160123/http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/about-us/people/cpo/cdo/. 4 January 2013. 2 December 2007.
2. Web site: Role of the Chief Dental Officer. Department of Health (UK). live. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120104132532/http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/Chiefprofessionalofficers/Chiefdentalofficer/Aboutthechiefdentalofficer/DH_075577. 4 January 2012. 2 December 2007.
3. Web site: Chief professional officers . Department of Health (UK). http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130107105354/http://dh.gov.uk/health/about-us/people/cpo/ . 7 January 2013 . 27 December 2016 .
4. Downer . Anne . Drugan . Caroline . Martin Downer . British Dental Journal . April 2018 . 224 . 7 . 479 . 10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.290 . en . 1476-5373. free .
5. Web site: Professor Martin C Downer DDS, PhD, LDS RCS, DDPH RCS . https://web.archive.org/web/20050430232641/http://www.eastman.ucl.ac.uk/iaoo/founders/Downer%20M_ShortCV.htm . dead . 2005-04-30 . The International Academy of Oral Oncology [IAOO] . 2005-04-12 . 4 December 2007 .
6. Web site: Dame Margaret Seward Is Appointed New Chief Dental Officer . Department of Health (UK) . 2000-10-09. 4 December 2007 .
7. Web site: New Chief Dental Officer for England appointed. Department of Health (UK). 2002-05-24. 4 December 2007 .
8. Web site: Chief Dental Officer leaves. 2005-09-22. Department of Health (UK). 3 December 2007.
9. Web site: New Acting Chief Dental Officer appointed. 3 December 2007 . Department of Health (UK).
10. Web site: Who we are: Ray Watkins . General Dental Council . 31 December 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070813011826/http://www.gdc-uk.org/About+us/Who+we+are/Ray+Watkins.htm . 13 August 2007 . dead .
11. Web site: Chief Dental Officer . The Scottish Government . 31 December 2007 .
12. Web site: Tom Ferris becomes interim chief dental officer for Scotland . Dentistry Scotland . 7 July 2021 . 11 January 2019.