Dr Claire McCarthy

I am Head of Dental at Canterbury Christ Church Universityand Course Director for the BSc Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy programme. I bring more than 30 years’ experience in dentistry and 23 years in academia, spanning specialist clinical practice, higher education, research, professional leadership, and healthcare innovation.

Before joining Canterbury Christ Church University, I spent 22 years at King’s College London in academic, programme leadership andresearch roles across undergraduate dentistry and postgraduate period ontology. I hold a PhD in Clinical Dentistry and an MA in Higher and Professional Education and, since 2014, have been Visiting Professor at New York University, College of Dentistry.

My career has frequently crossed traditional professional boundaries. I was the first dental hygienist to complete a PhD in ClinicalDentistry at King’s, the first to be awarded Faculty status by the British Society of Period ontology and Implant Dentistry, and the first appointed to its full Council. These experiences have shaped my commitment to creating opportunities for others and to advancing the contribution of dental hygienists and therapists within education, research and the wider healthcare community.

At Canterbury Christ Church University, my ambition is todevelop a distinctive and forward-looking dental portfolio that responds to theneeds of our communities as well as the changing healthcare landscape. Ourlocation, including communities experiencing significant unmet oral healthcareneed, gives us both an opportunity and a responsibility to think differently about how we educate the future workforce and how oral healthcare can be delivered.

Prevention should begin on day one of the curriculum, not sit at its margins. I want students to understand oral health within the context of the whole person: systemic health, non-communicable disease, behaviour, inequalities and the wider determinants of health. The University's breadth of healthcare disciplines provides an exceptional opportunity to develop meaningful interprofessional education around these shared challenges and to prepare dental professionals who are confident working as part of wider healthcare teams.

I am equally interested in challenging the assumption that oral healthcare belongs exclusively within the dental surgery. Prevention, oral health promotion, risk identification, behaviour change and elements ofcontinuing care can reach people through community settings and through closer collaboration with other health and care professionals. Exploring such approaches within education can help students understand how their skills might reach populations who do not routinely access traditional dental services.

My wider vision is for CCCU to become recognised for innovative, evidence-informed dental and healthcare education: a place prepared to develop, evaluate and share new educational approaches and new models of collaboration and care. I want students to benefit from innovation while also contributing to it through research, community engagement and interdisciplinary working.

Ultimately, I want our graduates to be excellent clinicians who also understand the communities they serve and have the curiosity and confidence to improve the systems in which they work. My aspiration is that students choose CCCU because the education is contemporary, ambitious and different, and that CCCU becomes known for contributing new thinking about how dental education can improve oral health beyond the traditional boundaries of dental practice.

 

My teaching career spans undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional education across clinical, simulation, classroom and digital environments. My principal areas of teaching include periodontal instrumentation using hand and powered technologies, advanced instrumentation skills and procedures, dental implant maintenance, prevention, oral hygiene, patient engagement and behaviour change. This brings together technical clinical education with the communication and behavioural approaches required to support long-term patient health.

During 22 years at King’s College London, I held programme leadership roles including Lead for BDS Year 1 and Year 2 Periodontology, with cohorts of approximately 180 dental students annually. Delivery required the coordination of teaching, simulation, staffing, clinical capacity and patient provision, including arrangements for up to 180 students each week to provide supervised patient care. I have also developed individual modules and complete programmes from inception through to delivery, with experience in curriculum development, assessment design and clinical and digital learning resources.

My international perspective on dental education comes from first-hand experience of teaching within different universities and educational settings. Since 2014, I have been Visiting Professor at New York University, contributing to postgraduate periodontology, implant education and international residency programmes. I have also taught students and clinicians at the University of Copenhagen, University College London, the University of Sheffield and the University of Malta, alongside educational activity across the UK, Europe and internationally. Working within different academic and professional environments has given me insight into differing curricula, approaches to clinical education and healthcare systems, and provides a broad frame of reference for programme development at CCCU.

Digital education has extended that reach further. During the pandemic, I delivered online education to thousands of clinicians internationally, developing experience in communicating complex clinical and behavioural concepts to large and professionally diverse audiences. My educational scholarship includes publications, textbook chapters and contributions to national guidance, alongside research in behaviour change and pedagogy. Recognition has included an award for student support, an NCUP International Travel Award for research in behaviour change and pedagogy, and an award for Outstanding Contribution to Oral Health in 2016.

Over the course of my academic career, I have developed an international network of former students, academic colleagues and collaborators, many of whom now hold leadership positions in clinical practice, education and academia. For CCCU, these relationships create opportunities for visiting faculty, shared teaching, international exchange and multi-centre educational initiatives. I see particular potential to use these connections to develop and evaluate new approaches to dental education, giving our students access to perspectives beyond a single institution while contributing to CCCU’s ambition to become recognised for educational innovation.

My research spans clinical, behavioural, laboratory and translational oral healthcare, with a focus on prevention, periodontology, implant maintenance, behaviour change and technology. I have worked across randomised controlled trials, quantitative and qualitative research, and in-vitro studies, providing a broad foundation in primary and multidisciplinary research.

I have contributed to major clinical studies, including the largest randomised controlled trial of behaviour change in dentistry and the largest clinical trial in halitosis, alongside multiple trials investigating oral care products and the oral microbiome. My roles have included study coordination, participant recruitment, clinical assessment and biological sample collection, with findings published in high-impact journals. My experimental research has employed methodologies including scanning electron microscopy, high-speed imaging, gas chromatography, profilometry, spectrophotometry and oral biofilm cultivation.

My PhD in Clinical Dentistry investigated aerosol generation, mitigation and ultrasonic technologies. I was the first dental hygienist to complete this doctorate at King’s College London, and the thesis was the first PhD within the Faculty of Dentistry to receive an Outstanding Thesis Award. During and following the PhD, I was Co-Principal Investigator and Project Lead for a major industry-supported programme investigating aerosol reduction in ultrasonic instrumentation and subsequently established a dedicated laboratory for ultrasonic aerosol and implant maintenance research.

The PhD also generated a programme of translational innovation from which three patents have emerged, with a fourth in development. I secured industry funding to develop the underlying technologies and intellectual property, working with clinical, engineering and commercial partners to progress them towards application. This portfolio is now progressing through spin-out and licensing pathways from King’s College London. The work has received international innovation recognition and selection for both the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering MedTech Accelerator and Venture Builder programmes, culminating in the Best Pitch Award at its 2026 Investor Showcase.

At CCCU, I see an opportunity to build an interdisciplinary research and innovation culture around the developing dental portfolio, connecting dentistry with Allied Health Professions and wider University expertise while drawing on established national and international collaborations. I am particularly committed to creating pathways into research for dental hygienists and therapists and opportunities for students to participate in meaningful research from an early stage. My ambition is for CCCU to contribute research that is clinically relevant, collaborative and capable of translation into education, practice and improved health.

Research outputs

My research outputs span peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, national clinical guidance, conference posters & presentations and intellectual property across clinical, behavioural, laboratory and translational oral healthcare. I am an inventor on three patents arising from my doctoral research, with a fourth in development.

Full publication record: ORCID [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8532-0342]

My external activities span dental education, professional leadership, regulation and accreditation, standards development, industry and public engagement, connecting my academic role with the wider development of oral healthcare and the dental workforce nationally and internationally.

I contribute to Dental Schools Council, Dental Hygiene & Dental Therapy Directors group, alongside longstanding involvement with the National Conference of University Professors (NCUP) and the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE). Through these networks, including contributing to ADEE sessions on undergraduate curriculum development, I engage with senior academic colleagues across institutions on contemporary priorities and the future direction of dental education.

I have maintained a longstanding commitment to the development of dental hygiene and dental therapy. I served five terms on the Council and Executive Council of the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT), contributing to the strategic direction of the national professional organisation. My involvement with the British Society of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry (BSP) has developed over many years, including membership of its Early Career Group from 2018. I subsequently became the first dental hygienist to be awarded Faculty status and the first appointed to full Council.

A particular focus has been increasing opportunities for dental hygienists and therapists within academia, research, innovation and leadership. I have mentored and supervised undergraduate research projects and MSc students, supported progression into research and academic activity, and worked to increase the visibility of the profession in areas where it has historically been underrepresented. I have also championed appropriate dental nurse support for dental hygienists and therapists, recognising the importance of effective team models in enabling the whole dental workforce to contribute fully to patient care.

My external responsibilities extend to regulation, quality assurance and standards. I chair the Accreditation Committee for dental hygiene and dental nursing programmes for the Dental Council of Ireland, the national dental regulator, and serve as an external examiner for the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority. As an expert committee member for the British Standards Institution (BSI), I contribute specialist expertise to the development and review of standards relevant to oral healthcare.

My wider academic contribution includes membership of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Dental Hygiene and peer review for journals including the Journal of Dentistry, Journal of Clinical Periodontology, Journal of Obesity and Journal of Implant Dentistry. I also contribute through conference chairing, scientific and professional judging panels, and invited and keynote presentations in the UK and internationally. My work with industry as a key opinion leader and clinical adviser provides a further interface with the evaluation and development of emerging oral healthcare products, technologies and devices.

I am a Fellow of the Faculty of Dental Trainers at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the College of General Dentistry and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. At King’s College London, I was the first dental hygienist to serve as Staff President of the Dental Society and currently sit on the King’s College London Alumni Committee.

Public engagement is an important part of my professional contribution. I led three award-winning World Gum Health Day initiatives involving staff and students, achieving national and European Federation of Periodontology recognition while raising awareness of periodontal health. My wider activities include school and community outreach, public health campaigns, fundraising and media engagement.

Collectively, these activities enable me to contribute across dental education, professional standards, regulation and workforce development while maintaining strong connections with academia, professional bodies, industry and the public. For CCCU, these relationships provide an established external network through which to develop partnerships, create opportunities for students and staff, and strengthen the University's presence within national and international dental education.