Our prestigious honours and awards are given to people for their exceptional achievements, their commitment to the BDA, and their work for the dental profession.
Recipients come from all sections of the profession: from general practice through to community and hospital dentistry, and across all four nations. This year we are proud to honour four recipients with our new Award for Excellence, celebrating a hospital dentist and a specialist orthodontist, as well as a special care clinical director, and a general dental practitioner (GDP).
Roz McMullan, Chair of our Honours and Awards Committee, said: “We are proud to celebrate these 17 exceptional dentists for their contribution to the profession and the Association. This year, we celebrate four dentists with our prestigious new ‘Award for Excellence’, which recognises special service at any stage of a career.
"We are always looking to highlight those who have shown a commitment to advancing dentistry and worked tirelessly for our profession. We strongly encourage nominations from all areas of the profession - so please do consider putting forward a colleague/s for the next round of awards.”
Fellowship Medal
Honours outstanding and distinguished service to the profession and the BDA:
- Peter Crooks, GDP (Northern Ireland)
- Mike Gall, Surgeon Captain (D) (England)
- Alison Lockyer, GDP (England)
- David McColl, GDP (Scotland).
John Tomes Medal
Honours members of the dental profession and of scientific eminence, or persons distinguished in medical or allied services, for their outstanding service to the dental profession or the BDA:
- Professor Avijit Banerjee, Professor of Cariology & Operative Dentistry / Honorary Consultant and Clinical Lead, Restorative Dentistry at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King’s College London and Guy's & St. Thomas' Hospitals Trust, London, UK
- Professor David Williams, Professor Global Oral Health, Barts and the London, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London and Academic Lead, Centre for Public Health and Primary Care.
Life Membership
This honour is usually awarded after retirement and celebrates long and valuable service to the BDA, often at Branch, Group or local level:
- David Cross, Specialist Orthodontist (Scotland)
- John Edwards, GDP (England)
- Julie Kirkby, GDP (England)
- Josie Lemon, Clinical Director and Specialist in Special Care Dentistry (England)
- Veenu Singla, GDP (England)
- Malcolm Smith, Postgraduate Dental Dean, NHS England Education NE and North Cumbria
- Charles Viggor, GDP (England).
Award for Excellence
Our new award recognises special service at any level of dentistry either nationally or internationally:
- Manar Elkhazindar, Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, NHS Highland
- Karen Juggins, Consultant Orthodontist, Royal Stoke University
- Sandra Sandham, Special Care Dentistry Clinical Director (North Wales)
- Michael Watts, GDP (England).
Nominate for the next round of awards
If you would like to nominate someone for our next round of awards, you can learn more and submit a nomination via our dedicated Honours and awards page.
The deadline for the next round of nominations is 30 May 2025. Nominations for our award for young dentists (Joy Harrild Award) should be submitted by 30 April 2025.