Paul Shepherd | British Dental Journal

PAUL SHEPHERD Paul Shepherd was born in Fleet, Hampshire, on 8 August 1922. He was trained at King's College Hospital and qualified LDSRCS (Eng) in 1944 after which he was posted to RAF

stations in Essex, the Sudan, Egypt and Italy. In 1948 he joined a Plymouth practice as an assistant and in 1950 bought the dental practice in Torrington, Devonshire. He retired in 1983. In

the Blitz, King's College Hospital student groups doubled up as fire fighting teams and he spent many hours dealing with incendiary bombs on the hospital roof. His house was destroyed.

A flying bomb explosion interrupted his final exam. He was much involved in dental politics as a student and was instrumental in setting up the British Dental Students' Association in

1942. As BDSA secretary he prepared a memorandum for Lord Teviot's Committee on Dentistry. He pleaded in the _BDJ_ for what became the General Dental Council and for properly funded

dental schools (Shepherd P R. Dental education: the students' point of view. _Br Dent J_ 1943; 75: 116–118). Fifty-three years later, he co-wrote a _BMJ_ editorial, _Privatising the

NHS: dentistry paves the way_ (_Br Med J_ 1996; 312: 922–923) drawing attention to the importance of adequate NHS dental services. His proudest achievement in dentistry though, was looking

after people - almost all NHS patients - in Torrington. He constantly updated his practice, recruiting his children to help with time and motion studies. With GPs as anaesthetists - in the

1950s one of them used a chloroform soaked handkerchief - he provided a GA extraction service. Bleeding sockets were sometimes dealt with in the family kitchen. For half a century, supported

by his devoted wife Heather and his lively Christian faith, he was a stalwart and imaginative BDA North Devon section officer, friend of Lee Abbey, Radio Devon broadcaster, writer for the

_North Devon Journal_, chapel deacon, town trustee and lay preacher. He passed away, aged 87, on 5 December 2009. He is survived by his wife and four sons, one of whom followed him into

dentistry and is a member of the _BDJ_ editorial board. Authors * JPS View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and

permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE JPS Paul Shepherd. _Br Dent J_ 208, 239 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2010.250 Download citation * Published: 13 March 2010 * Issue

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