My profile

Biography

Other academic service (administration and management)

Year Tutor for the BSc Dental Technology Year 2

Consultancy and advisory roles

I have for the last decade been an invited speaker at various dental meetings and conferences on the subject of infection control in the dental laboratory. This topic is a core continuous professional development area for the General Dental Council and the talks are attended by dental technicians, clinical dental technicians, reconstructive scientists and dental nurses:

Infection Prevention Society conference, Harrogate (September 2016)

International Orthodontic Conference, London (September 2015)

British Institute of Dental and Surgical Technologists, Preston (June 2015)

Infection Prevention Society conference, Glasgow (September 2014)

British Association of Clinical Dental Technicians, Manchester (September 2014)

Bristol Dental Hospital (March 2014)

Clinical Dental Technicans Expo, Nottingham (May 2013)

NW Dental Deanery, Haydock Park (March 2013)

University of Central Lancashire, Clinical Dental Technology course, Preston (October 2012)

Dental Laboratories Association (Prosthetics) Belfast (November 2012)

Dental Laboratories Association (Crown and Bridge) Belfast (November 2012)

British Orthodontic Conference, Brighton (September 2010)

Institute of Maxillofacial Prosthetists and Technologists, Manchester (September 2010)

School of Dentistry and Oral Health, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Queensland, Australia (March, 2010)

Editorial Board membership

Editorial board member for Quintessence Journal of Dental Technology (up to 2009)

Teaching

How I’ll teach you

I teach dental biosciences which involves head and neck anatomy, infection control and dental diseases such as dental caries, periodontal disease and oral cancer. I also teach research methods to support third years through their project dissertation and further studies in dental materials where we cover biofilm formation on dental prostheses and tissue response to biomaterials.

Postgraduate teaching

I teach on each year of the STP in reconstructive science and am the unit leader for the research project.

Subject areas

Dental biosciences and oral microbiology

Supervision

Over the years I have supervised a number of MSc’s (by research) and PhD’s in the fields of dental technology and oral microbiology. I am currently involved in the supervision of several PhD students.

Research outputs

Characterisation of dental materials and their interactions with micro-organisms:

Fungal deterioration of denture liner materials; factors affecting the colonisation of dental materials by micro-organisms e.g. dental acrylic, alloys, porcelain and maxillofacial silicone; incorporation of anti-microbial agents into silicone.

Health and Safety issues: cross contamination implications in dental technology laboratories.

Other interests and collaboration: element release of dental alloys; development of standard procedures for the dental technician in the construction of prostheses and appliances; characterisation of dental materials, physical and chemical properties; anti-microbial efficacy of denture cleansers and mouthrinses; fluoride release from glass ionomer cements; residual monomer content of dental acrylic; tooth erosion by soft drinks; effect of bleaching agents on teeth; mouthguard design, dimensional accuracy and surface quality of impression materials following disinfection.