Practical Tips in Clinical Dentistry

Professor Ewen McColl, BSc (Hons), BDS, MFDS, FDS RCPS, FCGDENT, MRD RCS Ed, MClinDent, FDS RCS(Rest Dent), FHEA, FDTFEd, FFD(RCSI), qualified Bachelor of Dental Surgery from the University of Edinburgh in 1993 and joined the British Army as a Dental Officer in 1995. During his military career, he served as Senior Dental Officer in Afghanistan and for two years on Loan Service to The Sultan of Brunei’s Armed Forces.

After six years of General Dental Practice experience in the military, Professor McColl undertook three years of Specialist Training in Periodontology at The Eastman Dental Hospital in London, passing MClinDent with distinction. Following this, he completed three years of training at Guy’s Dental Hospital in order to become an accredited Restorative Consultant. During this period, he also attended an internship in endodontics at Loma Linda University in California.

Following accreditation as a Restorative Consultant in 2009, Professor McColl was then employed as a Consultant by the military, taking restorative referrals from military General Dental Practitioners. He took up his current position at Peninsula Dental School, University of Plymouth, UK in September 2012, where he is the Director of Clinical Dentistry and Head of School.

He is an Editor of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners Standards in Dentistry and a Director of Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise. He is the Editorial Director of Dental Update, a leading peer-reviewed clinical journal for the dental team. He is the current Chair of Dental Schools Council UK and Ireland. 

Aws Alani BDS, MFDS, MSc, FDS RCS, LLM, FHEA, MFDT, FCGDent 

Aws qualified from King's College London in 2003. He completed vocational training in Essex and held junior hospital positions at Guy's Hospital and King's College Hospital, before completing an MSc in Endodontics at the Eastman Dental Institute. He moved to Morriston Hospital in South Wales to work in the Maxillofacial Unit, he subsequently completed his specialist training in Restorative Dentistry in Newcastle. During his training he lead relief work trips to Romania and Ghana with ‘Young Smiles for Romania’ and ‘Global Brigades’. 

In 2013, Aws became the International Team for Implantology Scholar in Toronto, Canada, working at the Hospital for Sick Children and Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. He returned to London in 2014 as NHS Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at King's College Hospital. His main remit is the management of congenital and acquired defects within an MDT environment, working alongside Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics. In 2022 he was appointed Associate Professor in Restorative Dentistry at Peninsula Dental School and is the programme director for the MSc in Endodontics. 

He has published over 50 peer reviewed papers, book chapters and textbooks and maintains an active interest in current clinical issues and research. He has won grants from the British Endodontic Society and the Royal College of Surgeons to examine novel tooth filling materials with associated patents. He is a previous British Society of Restorative Dentistry and British Endodontic Society council member and prize winner. He completed a Master’s Degree in Medical Law in 2017 from Cardiff University.