New Deputy Chief Dental Officer, Department Of Health, UK

Main Category: Dentistry
Article Date: 12 Nov 2008 - 1:00 PST

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Sue Gregory has been appointed as the new Deputy Chief Dental Officer at the Department of Health, it was announced today. Sue will replace current Deputy Chief Dental Officer, Tony Jenner, who is leaving the Department of Health after six years. The appointment will take effect in January 2009.

Sue is currently the Consultant in Dental Public Health for Bedfordshire, Luton and Hertfordshire Primary Care Trusts. She chairs the UK Consultants in Dental Public Health Group and was President of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry in 2006-07. Sue was also previously Honorary Secretary, and then President, of the British Society of Disability and Oral Health.

Sue chaired the working group that developed Delivering Better Oral Health, the preventive toolkit to advise dental practices on effective prevention of oral disease. Produced on behalf of the Department of Health, this influential and world first publication built on the work Tony Jenner started with England's Oral Health Plan, Choosing Better Oral Health.

Tony Jenner is retiring from the Department of Health but he will continue to provide support to the NHS in developing oral health commissioning pathways. He will also be working voluntarily as a consultant to the Global Child Dental Health Taskforce supporting the improvement of child dental health in South Africa.

Barry Cockcroft, Chief Dental Officer for England said: "I am delighted that Sue is joining the dental team at the Department of Health. Her experience in active local commissioning will prove particularly invaluable in helping Primary Care Trusts to ensure that their resources reach the best and most appropriate local dental services. "It has been a real pleasure to work with Tony Jenner over the last six years. Tony has been closely involved with changes to legislation that have enabled consultation on water fluoridation, and has made a significant contribution to the development of Choosing Better Oral Health and publication of the prevention toolkit - achievements of which he should be truly proud."

Sue Gregory said: "I look forward to working in Barry Cockcroft's team and to the challenges that this appointment will bring me. The excellent foundations that Tony Jenner has made towards further improving oral health in this country are a fantastic legacy on which to build. There are tremendous opportunities to move forward with local commissioning, working with the NHS, PCTs and the dental profession, to secure the future for delivery of dental care and oral health."

Sue Gregory was appointed through open competition. Sue qualified in 1976 at the Royal Dental Hospital, University of London and undertook post graduate studies firstly obtaining in 1983 an MSc in Dental Public Health at the London Hospital and then in 1993 a Diploma in Health Economics at Aberdeen University. She is a Fellow of the Faculty Public Health, Royal College of Physicians and a member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and an invited board member of that Faculty. She was first appointed a Consultant in Dental Public Health in 1992 and has chaired or been a member of a number of influential national committees. In 1998, she was instrumental in establishing a first wave Personal Dental Service pilot in orthodontics, which has been the model for the delivery of the new contractual arrangements for NHS orthodontic provision.

Department of Health, UK