Journal of Disability and Oral Health

cover art

Cover Date:
October 2004
Print ISSN:
1470-8558
Electronic ISSN:
1754-2758
Vol:
5
Issue:
2

BSDH Interview

Norman, everyone is familiar with your roles of member of the Executive Committee, then a long-serving Membership Secretary, before becoming International Rep, but tell us how you came to be involved with BSDH. I joined the BSDH in 1977 after reading a short article in the BDJ about the formation of a new Society. Unfortunately I missed being a founder member by one year. My involvement with the council was a result of a casual remark I made to Trevor Castles one day at work. Trevor had become the first Membership Secretary of the Society and was telling me that he had spent the weekend matching up the names on the bank statement listing members who had paid their subscriptions with those on his membership list. I remarked, sad person that I am, this was the sort of task I enjoyed. It never occurred to me that Trevor would understand this to mean that I would like to be the new Membership Secretary. I thought there would be lots of important people vying for places on the Committee. It was a great shock to find out that I was wrong. So would you elaborate on how your career developed up to that point? I worked in the Belfast School of Dentistry for two years immediately following graduation. I continued to work sessions there, in Paediatric Dentistry and in Oral Surgery, after I went into dental practice in 1973. In 1976 I joined the Community Dental Service and the timing turned out to be perfect. The dentist at the biggest hospital in Northern Ireland for people with a learning disability had just retired. Trevor Castles was in the process of being appointed to start up a new expanded service, and they were looking for a young dentist with hospital experience to be his assistant. I can still picture the smile on the Chief Dental Officer’s face when I went into his office and asked for advice about how to get a job in the Community Dental Service. After a very happy year in the CDS I applied for a job which combined sessions in a large general hospital with sessions in the School of Dentistry and others in the disability hospital. I have stayed in this post ever since, almost without interruption. During the development of your career, which people were important influences? Trevor Castles was my greatest influence and inspiration. H e had enormous experience within (and without) dentistry and he taught me a lot. Our styles of working were different, but complementary. I had total trust in his clinical judgement and an enormous respect for his skills. We quickly became good friends and have remained so ever since. I owe a lot to others who would be less well known by BSDH members. David Stewart in Paediatric Dentistry, John McGimpsey and Charlie McKay in Oral Surgery, and the Dean of the Dental School, Frank O’Brien were all very good to me.

Article Price
£15.00
Institution Article Price
£15.00
Page Start
88
Page End
89
Authors
Norman Campbell

Articles from this issue

  • Title
  • Pg. Start
  • Pg. End

  1. Editorial
  2. 50
  3. 50

  1. The role of joint consultant restorative and special care clinics in the community
  2. 51
  3. 56

  1. Oral hygiene and periodontal treatment needs in young people with special needs attending a special school in Greece
  2. 57
  3. 64

  1. Relationship between hepatitis virus infection and dental status in an 80year-old population
  2. 65
  3. 69

  1. Root surface caries in elderly people in residential care
  2. 70
  3. 76

  1. The oral health status of the Special Olympics Special Smiles (SOSS) athletes in the Middle East and North Africa Region
  2. 77
  3. 79

  1. Caries among a group of Romanian intellectually impaired children
  2. 80
  3. 82

  1. Effects of edentulism on lingual functions during swallowing
  2. 83
  3. 87

  1. BSDH Interview
  2. 88
  3. 89

  1. BSDH News
  2. 90
  3. 90

  1. Abstracts
  2. 91
  3. 91

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