Margaret was appointed following the retirement of Professor Stanley Gelbier, who had held the position since 1989.
Margaret has been a member of the BDA for 43 years, first joining as a student member. After graduating from the University of Liverpool she pursued a career in hospital dentistry and as a dental academic holding posts including consultant in restorative dentistry and then clinical head of division at Central Manchester University Hospital NHS Trust, honorary senior lecturer in restorative dentistry at the University of Manchester, and director at The National Advice Centre for Postgraduate Dental Education. She has also held a variety of visiting professorships and advisory positions in both the UK and the United States.
A former honorary curator of the Dental Hospital Museum in Manchester, a position she held for ten years, she is currently editor of the Dental Historian journal for the Lindsay Society for the History of Dentistry and president of the East Lancashire and East Cheshire Branch of the BDA.
The role of honorary curator involves acting as an advocate of the museum, promoting its relevance and its services to the dental profession and general public, as well as conserving and displaying the heritage of the profession.
The position has been in existence since the museum was founded in the 1930s. Margaret follows in the footsteps of Professor Stanley Gelbier who was honorary curator for 26 years and worked hard to open the museum to a wider audience. Earlier honorary curators have been responsible for preserving the collection during the Second World War, moving the collection to its current home in 64 Wimpole Street and overseeing the design and layout of the museum.
Commenting on her appointment Margaret said:
“I am honoured to be taking up the position as honorary curator to this unique collection, the largest of its kind in the UK and a collection of truly national importance.
“It’s over 80 years since the British Dental Museum was first established. Our duty is not just to conserve the collection, but also to ensure we‘re capturing the objects that will tell the story of dentistry today, including the incredible changes we’ve seen in dental materials, operative techniques and implants in the last 20 years.”