Wade Houlden, Chairman

Wade Houlden qualified from King's in 1980, entered General Practice and worked as an associate in the Worthing and Arundel areas of West Sussex. He has owned his own practice since 1987 which is almost entirely NHS. In 1995 he became the visiting dentist at HMP Ford, a Category D Prison. He undertook a clinical attachment in Orthodontics at Worthing Hospital between 1998 to 2000 and was a Vocational Trainer from 1999 to 2004. Wade is also the Honorary Secretary of Arun Dencare, a local group of general practices involved in emergency cover and peer review.

Numa Kapur, Secretary

Numa Kapur qualified in 1993 at the Royal London Hospital College. She completed an MSc in Forensic Dentistry and is a practicing forensic dentist. She has conducted a year's research into the "Effects of Drug Misuse on Dental Health." She has 10 years prison dental experience and is the senior dental officer at HMP Winson Green in Birmingham and also works at HMP Stafford. She is on the working group for the Strategy in Modernising Prison Dentistry and has played a part in formulating the Prison Dentistry competencies and guidelines for the appointment of DwSIs.

David Fardouly, Treasurer

David Fardouly qualified in Sydney, Australia, in 1982. He has worked in the UK since 1984 in a mix of General Dental practice and the Community Dental Service. He is currently the dental officer at HMP Blakenhurst where he has worked for the past 14 years.

Alan Canty, Conference Organiser and Webmaster

After qualifying from Bristol in 1976, Alan worked in various hospital posts at Bristol and Manchester. He obtained his FDS in 1982 and went on to establish his own private practice in Gloucestershire in 1984 which he continued to run until 2006. He was a vocational trainer from 1988 to 1993. He has been working at HMP YOI Eastwood Park in South Gloucestershire since 2005. As well as working as a general dental practioner, Alan is also a specialist in oral surgery.

Mary McCann

Dr McCann graduated from Glasgow University in 1976. She completed her Masters degree in Public Health in 1997. In November 2000, Dr McCann was appointed Deputy Chief Dental Officer for Scotland, working in this role until July 2006 during which time she provided dental advice to the Scottish Prison Service.

Ruth Gray, International Liaison Officer

Ruth Gray graduated from Glasgow University in 1996. She worked in practice and hospital in Belfast and England before working for a development organisation in Nepal in 1999. From 2000 to 2006 she worked as a senior dental officer in Dublin in special care dentistry, setting up a dental service for people who are homeless or substance users. She completed a Master's in Dental Public Health in Cork 2002 with research dissertation "Oral Health Survey of Methadone Users in Dublin." She is currently a senior dental surgeon in prison services Belfast.