A number of leading dentistry figures have received awards in the Queen's New Year Honours list.
Dr Janet Ruth Clarke, chairperson of the British Dental Association's Central Committee for Community and Public Health Dentistry (CCCPHD), received an MBE for services to healthcare. The dentist from Sinton Green, near Worcester, recently completed six years as CCCPHD chair.
Dr Clarke qualified as a dentist from Birmingham University in 1981 and obtained her Masters in Community Dental Health in 1989. She has a diploma in Health Services Management. She is also clinical director of the salaried dental service in Birmingham and currently deputy director of the Provider Services in Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT.
Other industry figures awarded MBEs were Donna Maria Hough, Dental Workforce Development Lead for Dental Care Professionals, North Western and Mersey Postgraduate Deaneries, Laura Mitchell, Consultant Orthodontist and Clinical Lead, St Luke's Hospital Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Angus John Robertson, Principal Fellow in Clinical Illustration, Leeds Dental Institute.
The General Dental Council's former President Hew Mathewson was awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours list for services to healthcare. A member of the GDC since 1996, he was President from 2003 until the end of September 2009 when he became the Council's first ever Chair. He handed over the role to Alison Lockyer on 1 January 2010.
Barry Michael Cockcroft, Chief Dental Officer, Department of Health was also awarded a CBE. He has previously held the posts of Acting Chief Dental Officer and Deputy Chief Dental Officer, having joined the Department of Health in November 2002. Prior to this he worked for 27 years in NHS general practice.
