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01  Voice · Clinician · Dentistry access

Professor Martyn Cobourne, portrait

Photo: kcl.ac.uk

Clinician

Professor Martyn Cobourne

Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Press coverage by month · bar height shows relative volume
July 2026Aug 2026Sept 2026Oct 2026Nov 2026to date
Also cited

Quoted in the press on 2 topics since 14 Jul 2026

Where their coverage sitsLower 50%

Voices are sorted into four fixed groups by how much press coverage they have had across all topics, from the top 5% down to the lower half. The lit step is Professor Martyn Cobourne’s group.

LONDON
OfficeThe Royal College of Surgeons of England, London, WC2A 3PEThe Royal College of Surgeons of England is based in Cities of London and Westminster: the organisation’s base, not a personal address.

02  Quoted on · 2 of 29 topics

Open the topic

Professor Martyn Cobourne: key facts

Kind of voice
Clinician
Role
Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery
Organisation
The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Organisation based in
Cities of London and Westminster
Quoted on
Dentistry access, Children's health
Press coverage
Also cited
Most recently quoted
9 Oct 2026
First quoted
14 Jul 2026

03  Profile

Who Professor Martyn Cobourne is

Professor Martyn Cobourne is Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He took up the post on 19 June 2026, succeeding Dr Charlotte Eckhardt.

He is also Professor and Academic Head of Orthodontics at King's College London and Honorary Consultant in Orthodontics at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. He graduated from King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1990, gained his Membership in Orthodontics in 1997 and completed a PhD in 2002. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Orthodontics from 2012 to 2022.

As Dean he has called for fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract, and has described children's oral health across the UK as a serious cause for concern.

Notable achievements

  1. 01

    Elected Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England at the October FDS Board meeting, taking office on 19 June 2026 Source ↗

  2. 02

    Awarded the Charles Tomes Medal by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2015 Source ↗

  3. 03

    Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Orthodontics from 2012 to 2022, and Director of Research at the British Orthodontic Society from 2012 to 2016 Source ↗

  4. 04

    Author of four orthodontic textbooks, including the Handbook of Orthodontics Source ↗

  5. 05

    Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery Board, 2020–2022 Source ↗

04  The signal · where Professor Martyn Cobourne sits on dentistry access

Leading

One of the voices most often quoted in the press on dentistry access.

Placed by press coverage on this topic only, not across all topics.

  1. Eddie Crouch portraitEddie CrouchUnionChair of the Principal Executive Committee (BDA Chair), British Dental AssociationLeading
  2. Shiv Pabary portraitShiv PabaryClinicianChair, General Dental Practice Committee, British Dental AssociationLeading
  3. Jason Wong portraitJason WongRegulatorChief Dental Officer for England, NHS England (joint appointment with the Department of Health and Social Care, based in NHS England)Leading
  4. James Roach portraitJames RoachRegulatorDirector of Neighbourhood Health, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care BoardLeading
  5. Dr Andrej BozicClinicianoral surgeon at private clinic DentumLeading
  6. Professor Martyn Cobourne portraitProfessor Martyn CobourneClinicianDean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, The Royal College of Surgeons of EnglandLeading
  7. Chris LoucaAcademicProfessor; director of dentistry, University of PortsmouthLeading
  8. Simon ThackerayAcademicDental practice ownerLeading

Showing the leading voices and those placed around Professor Martyn Cobourne · See every voice on the topic →

05  On the record · press

What Professor Martyn Cobourne has said

By outlet · bar length shows relative volume
  • healthcare-management.uk
  • aol.ca
  • aol.co.uk
  • mirror.co.uk
  • nature.com

Where Professor Martyn Cobourne has been quoted

  1. Tooth decay still number one reason for young children to be admitted to hospitalnature.com · 9 Oct 2026
  2. More than 20,000 young children taken to hospital to have rotten teeth pulled outaol.co.uk · 24 Sept 2026
  3. More than 20,000 young children taken to hospital to have rotten teeth pulled outaol.ca · 24 Sept 2026
  4. NHS Urged to Reform Dental Care Amid Child Tooth Decay Crisishealthcare-management.uk · 24 Sept 2026
  5. Children's tooth decay an 'avoidable public health failure' – top surgeonhealthcare-management.uk · 24 Sept 2026
  6. More than 20,000 young kids taken to hospital to have rotten teeth pulled outmirror.co.uk · 24 Sept 2026
  7. UK 'sick of man of Europe' on children's health, report revealshealthcare-management.uk · 14 Jul 2026
How we found the articles that name Professor Martyn Cobourne: we searched news for these terms, by topic. Terms for 2 topics

Dentistry access

  • NHS dentistry
  • NHS dentist
  • dental access
  • dentist shortage
  • dental desert
  • dental contract
  • dental charges
  • dental check-up

Also searched with “NHS dentistry” in each of 8 national papers, and in the Guardian by editor tag, and in trade press by category. Every term for Dentistry access

Children's health

  • children's health
  • paediatric
  • child health
  • children's hospital
  • infant mortality

Also searched with “children's health” in each of 8 national papers, and in the Guardian by editor tag, and in trade press by category. Every term for Children's health

Verbatim

“This is an entirely avoidable public health failure. Parents and carers can help children develop good oral health habits from an early age. But maintaining good oral health also depends on being able to access routine dental care, and too many families are still struggling to secure an NHS dental appointment when they need one.”
Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) · Dentistry access · nature.com · 9 Oct 2026 · Read the article
“This is an entirely avoidable public health failure. Tooth decay is preventable, yet thousands of children are still ending up in hospital every year for treatment that could have been avoided through good oral health habits and access to an NHS dentist.”
Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery · Dentistry access · aol.co.uk · 24 Sept 2026 · Read the article
“This is an entirely avoidable public health failure. Tooth decay is preventable, yet thousands of children are still ending up in hospital every year for treatment that could have been avoided through good oral health habits and access to an NHS dentist.”
Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery · Dentistry access · aol.ca · 24 Sept 2026 · Read the article
“This is an entirely avoidable public health failure. Tooth decay is preventable, yet thousands of children are still ending up in hospital every year for treatment that could have been avoided through good oral health habits and access to an NHS dentist.”
Professor, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons of England · Dentistry access · healthcare-management.uk · 24 Sept 2026 · Read the article
“This is an entirely avoidable public health failure. Tooth decay is preventable, yet thousands of children are still ending up in hospital every year for treatment that could have been avoided through good oral health habits and access to an NHS dentist.”
Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England · Children's health · healthcare-management.uk · 24 Sept 2026 · Read the article
“This is an entirely avoidable public health failure. Tooth decay is preventable, yet thousands of children are still ending up in hospital every year for treatment that could have been avoided through good oral health habits and access to an NHS dentist.”
Professor, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery · Dentistry access · mirror.co.uk · 24 Sept 2026 · Read the article
“The state of children's oral health across the UK is a serious cause for concern, with this report showing the reality that the place where a child grows up represents a significant determinant on their health.”
dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England · Children's health · healthcare-management.uk · 14 Jul 2026 · Read the article

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics, not necessarily citing them directly.

06  Sources

References for this biography

  1. Professor Martyn Cobourne elected as next Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery — Royal College of Surgeons. Election as Dean, start date of 19 June 2026, succession from Dr Charlotte Eckhardt, KCL and Guy's and St Thomas' roles, graduation in 1990 and Membership in Orthodontics in 1997
  2. FDS Board — Royal College of Surgeons. Career background, PhD in 2002, research focus, textbooks, British Orthodontic Society and Journal of Orthodontics roles
  3. Board of Trustees — Royal College of Surgeons. Current title as FDS Dean, leads one of Europe's largest postgraduate orthodontic training programmes, research focus, aims as Dean
  4. Dental surgeons respond to new Nuffield Trust analysis — Royal College of Surgeons. Public stance as Dean (24 Aug 2026) calling for fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract
  5. Dental surgeons respond to RCPCH's State of Child Health report - The Probe. Public comment as Dean on children's oral health
  6. Academy members - AOMRC. Cobourne listed as Dean; RCS England address at 38-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE
  7. Martyn Cobourne - EOS 2023. Charles Tomes Medal 2015, lectures, publications, career history
  8. Martyn Cobourne (UK) - AREO. Vice-Dean 2020-2022, research areas, awards
  9. Martyn Cobourne (@martyn_cobourne) on X. X account named Martyn Cobourne, described as Professor of Orthodontics at King's College London, with a link to his KCL profile
  10. Martyn Cobourne elected as Dean of FDS RCS England — King's College London. KCL confirmation of his election and his position as Professor of Orthodontics

07  Contact & links

X
x.com/martyn_cobournepublished here ↗
Staff page
rcseng.ac.uk/about-the-rcs/college-governance/board-trustees
Staff page
rcseng.ac.uk/dental-faculties/fds/faculty/fds-board

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.

Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and other registered clinicians quoted in a clinical capacity. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. This profile was last updated on 13 Nov 2026. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.