The College of General Dentistry (CGDent) has announced the recipients of its second annual award of honorary fellowships and the president’s commendation.
Three individuals have received honorary fellowship, recognising their significant and career-defining contributions to dentistry aligned with the college’s mission.
William Beare is one of the UK's leading prosthodontists and has contributed both regionally and nationally to patient care and to the education of all members of the dental team. He worked in general dental practice from 1975-86 before serving twenty-three years in the Royal Army Dental Corps, including as the first consultant in restorative dentistry to the Armed Forces, until 2009. He also worked part-time in private practice in Devon and Cornwall from 2000-2018. Since 2012 he has been the clinical lead of the Derriford Dental Education Facility at Peninsula Dental School while remaining an honorary consultant in restorative dentistry to the British Army. As well as inspiring students, he runs numerous courses for practitioners in the Southwest, and many in the military dental services have benefitted from his support and revision courses.
Two recipients of the honorary fellowship have been awarded it posthumously. The college does not often make posthumous awards, however as a new organisation, it has not previously had the opportunity to provide these individuals with the special recognition they deserve.
Larry Browne was a proud and dedicated dental technician with fifty years of experience who was highly influential for many dentists and dental technicians. The long-time editor of Dental Technician, he was one of the original dental implant technicians in the UK and, indeed one of the very earliest fellows of the International Team in Implantology, also guiding many dentists toward fellowship. A former fellow also of both the British Institute of Dental and Surgical Technologists and the Dental Technologists Association, and a former licentiate of the City and Guilds of London Institute, his legacy lives on through his great contribution to the progress of dental technology, and through the education and training centre in Enniskillen which bears his name.
Philip Tucker began his career in the 1960s as an apprentice dental technician at a laboratory near his home in Potters Bar, and from the late 1970s, he started campaigning for a new career pathway that would enable dental technicians to see the public in a direct capacity for denture provision. His tireless commitment to this cause was instrumental in the addition in 2007 of clinical dental technician as a regulated title in the UK, and his contribution, alongside others, enabled later generations to pursue this career path. Throughout his career, he championed excellent patient care, education and the progression of dental technicians’ knowledge and understanding to become clinicians, and he influenced and mentored many dental technicians and clinical dental technicians in the UK and around the world.
One individual has received the president’s commendation, which is conferred by the president on the recommendation of the elected college council, and which recognises significant service to the dental profession by college members, at the local or national level, including through the college or former Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP).
David Lynch MCGDent is the seventh award winner and has exemplified the college’s commitment to dental education throughout his career, both in his own training and his support for students and peers. He has also been recognised for his dedication to NHS dental patients in a high-needs area, and for his longstanding service to the college and former faculty in the North East of England. A dentist at Frederick Street Family Dental Practice in Sunderland since qualifying from Newcastle Dental School in 2005, he holds the Diploma of Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties (Dip. MJDF) and the FGDP(UK) Diploma in Restorative Dentistry. David enjoys teaching and mentoring as a Foundation Dentist Educational Supervisor. Now in his thirteenth year as a trainer, he is regarded as a natural teacher and is appreciated by mentees. He is known for his encyclopaedic knowledge, being a willing guide with dental complexities, and for his respect for the evidence in all he does.
All four awards were formally presented by college president Abhi Pal at the 2023 CGDent Fellows’ Summer Reception. Larry Browne’s posthumous honorary fellowship was accepted on his behalf by his widow, Sue, and Philip Tucker’s by his son, Jody.