He focussed on improving the wellbeing of all with whom he came into contact...

David Baird died on 1 September 2005, after a long and courageous battle against cancer. For 63 years he packed his life with activities, personal and professional, which focussed on improving the wellbeing of all with whom he came into contact.

After he qualified from the London Hospital Dental School in 1964, he entered a busy NHS dental practice in Winchester, where he stayed as an associate for 15 years, building up a large clientele of children. This ignited his lifelong interest in paedodontics and thus he entered, in 1978, the community dental service in Southampton. Here he served as a clinical community dental officer at a variety of clinic locations including Harefield, Swaythling and Bitterne. His interest in dental health education flourished and in 1981, he became lecturer in oral health promotion at Eastleigh College, introducing exciting programmes into local schools.

David was convinced that his future career should focus on caring for children, so he gained an MSc in children's dentistry at the Eastman Dental Hospital in 1983 and then returned to Southampton as a senior dental officer and set about developing the much needed provision of an in-house paediatric service to help his local colleagues. At the same time, he was appointed associate specialist at the General Hospital and, with his consummate skill and tact, smoothed the links between the hospital and community to enable the treatment of child patients. He also led initiatives which resulted in establishing a dental presence on the paediatric oncology wards at the Royal South Hants Hospital and became an empathetic lead for the children's dental general anaesthetic service.

Since 1983 David had been on the Representative Board, and its successor, the Representative Body, and was tireless in his commitment to the Wessex Branch serving as its secretary for 17 years, which was deservedly recognised with the award of life membership of the BDA. When he demitted office at the Branch AGM last year, he characteristically guided the President through the intricacies and constitutional niceties of the agenda, with his unruly locks of abundant white hair very much in evidence.

David was a natural committee person. For seven years he brought his analytical mind to the deliberations of the Dental Formulary Committee and shared generously his in-depth knowledge and expertise of computer technology. From 1994 he was a member of the GDSC IT working party and developed two computer-assisted learning programmes, which remain as part of the Wessex Deanery web-tool package.

His caring and organisational skills stretched beyond dentistry and were reflected in his long association as Governor of four schools in the Winchester area, assuming the role of chairman of governors of each establishment. He further found energy to excel in his hobby of making and flying radio-controlled model aircraft, master digital photography, tend his garden and travel overseas.

In 1964, David married Pam, a ward sister at the London Hospital, who sadly in deep grief, survived him by only five months. Truly, David was a family man; a loving father to Andrew and Angi and devoted to his grandchildren: Kayleigh, Connor, Caitlin and Molly.

Family, friends, colleagues and patients will be enriched for knowing David Baird, with his renowned methodical approach, boundless energy and enthusiasm for life. In particular, the Wessex Branch of the BDA will be forever in his debt.

David and Pam will be missed by us all.