The College has announced changes to the membership of its Council, with four members newly appointed and two re-elected. 

Congratulations to BSDHT Honorary Vice President Dr. Debbie Reed and BSDHT Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Team member Frances Robinson, on their election to the Council.

Debbie Reed FCGDent, a Reader and Director of Advanced and Specialist Healthcare in Global and Lifelong Learning at the University of Kent, has been appointed to represent the dental nursing and orthodontic therapy professions.

A dental nurse for almost forty years, Debbie is a past Executive Chair of the British Association of Dental Nurses. She was Head of the University of Kent’s Centre for Professional Practice for eight years, Head of Digital and Lifelong Learning for nine, developed and runs its MSc in Advanced and Specialist Healthcare, and previously had a 23-year career in the Royal Navy. An Affiliate Member of the FGDP from 2008 until its transfer into the College, she was Chair of the Dental Nursing and Orthodontic Therapy Working Group for the Career Pathways Programme which developed the College’s Professional Framework for Career Pathways in Dentistry, and was Vice Chair, now Chair, of the inaugural board of the College’s Faculty of Dental Nursing and Orthodontic Therapy.

She is a peer reviewer for the British Dental Journal and the Annual Clinical Journal For Dental Health, is on the Editorial Board of the Advanced Journal of Professional Practice, and was a contributor to An introduction to clinical research for health and social care professionals. Her qualifications include a Doctorate in Education, an MSc in Human Resources Management, the FGDP(UK) Certificate in Dental Practice Appraisal, and a BA in Post Compulsory Education, and she is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Honorary Vice President of the British Society for Dental Hygiene and Therapy. In 2020 she received the BADN Outstanding Contribution to Dental Nursing Award, and in 2021 she received the inaugural FGDP(UK) Janet Goodwin Award.

Frances Robinson Assoc.FCGDent, is a dental hygienist working in private practice in London and oral health practitioner in NHS community outreach.  Frances has been appointed to represent the dental hygiene and dental therapy professions.

Frances completed a Diploma of Higher Education in dental hygiene from Cardiff University in 2015, a Master’s degree in Dental Public Health from University College London in 2017, and is an Associate of the Faculty of Public Health. In 2022 she was a Health Education England Oral Health Clinical Transformation Fellow, the first dental hygienist or dental therapist to undertake an HEE fellowship. She was a member, later Chair, of the Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy Working Group for the Career Pathways Programme which developed the College’s Professional Framework for Career Pathways in Dentistry, and was Vice Chair, now Chair, of the inaugural board of the College’s Faculty of Dental Hygiene and Therapy.

Frances is an active member of BSDHT’s Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging team (DIBS). She is also an active member of a dental hygienists’ study club in London, lectures for HEE and NHS England, and She has volunteered for a number of dental and medical charities in Nepal, India, Cambodia, Panama and Greece, and is a volunteer officer for Dental Mavericks, for whom she has written a field guide for oral care in humanitarian situations as well as helping them with grant writing and fundraising. Earlier this year she co-hosted a College webinar on how to get involved in dental volunteering.

The elections to the regional seats on the College Council are for three years until June 2026, the appointments to the regional seats are for one year until elections are held in 2024, and the appointments to the role representative seats are for renewable one-year terms.

John Stanfield Assoc.FCGDent, the previous representative for dental hygiene and dental therapy, has stood down to focus on the completion of his PhD investigating the use of hybrid social learning networks for dental CPD.