Dr Roger Matthews MBE is the Honorary Life President at Denplan, having held the title of Denplan's Chief Dental Officer from 2000 to 2016. Read on to discover his remarkable journey through the world of dentistry, culminating in being awarded an MBE in the 2018 New Year Honours List.
Dr Matthews qualified BDS from Sheffield School of Dentistry in 1970, entering general dental practice as an associate the same year before setting up his own practice in Sheffield in 1974.
Between 1974 and 1990, as well as running his own practice, Dr Matthews held several roles and memberships, including:
- Secretary and later Chair of Sheffield Local Dental Committee; helping coordinate a national protest against NHS clawback proposals in 1976
- Co-presenting 'Lifesmile' seminars in collaboration with Oral B and the British Dental Health Foundation, with his practice winning a preventive care award in 1979
- Joining the BDA General Dental Services Committee and becoming an Executive member between (1978-1983)
- Working as a part-time Clinical Tutor at Sheffield Dental School (1983-89)
- Becoming President of the South Yorks Branch of the BDA (1987-88)
Dr Matthews sold his practice in 1990 and joined Medical Defence Union (now DDU) as a dento-legal advisor. He then became an independent dento-legal advisor in 1993, giving him time to write a textbook on Risk Management in Dentistry. During this time, Dr Matthews also completed a 2-year taught Masters in Healthcare Quality Assurance at Leeds University.
Then started the journey at Denplan. Dr Matthews was head-hunted by Denplan's founder, Stephen Noar, to set up a Risk Management and Complaints Handling section in 1995 before becoming Denplan's Chief Dental Officer in 2000.
During his time with Denplan, the CDO England (2001-2) recruited Dr Matthews to chair a panel which resulted in a government Green Paper 'Options for Change' [in dentistry].
In 2016, Dr Roger Matthews was awarded the title of Honorary Life President after moving on from his role as Chief Dental Officer with Denplan.
Having supported a number of dental charities and institutions both on behalf of Denplan and personally...
- Teamwork;
- British Dental Health Foundation (now Oral Health Foundation);
- Faculty of General Dental Practice;
- and then served as a Trustee of Heart Your Smile
...Roger was hugely honoured to receive an MBE for services to dentistry in 2018.
