On 29 September 2004 family, friends, colleagues and students past and present gathered in Newcastle to grieve an untimely loss, and to celebrate the life of a remarkable man. Not even standing room was sufficient to contain the throngs who wished to pay their respects to Eoin Smart, one of the longest serving and best regarded clinical teachers in the history of Newcastle Dental School.

Exiled lowland Scot Eoin left Daniel Stewart's College, Edinburgh to commence dental training at the Sutherland Dental School, King's College Durham in 1956. There he met fellow dental student Patricia Cameron to whom he would be devoted in marriage for the rest of his life. Together, they were blessed with three children who were the constant pride and joy of this intensely private, family-centred man.

Eoin qualified in 1961 and immediately progressed through the junior ranks at the Dental Hospital. He was elected to Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) in 1967 and was quickly recognised as a prize catch for the full time academic staff in Newcastle.

During 37 years of faithful service, Eoin held numerous offices, including Presidency of the North of England Odontological Society, the Newcastle Dental Graduates Association, and the Newcastle Dental Students Society. He was a founder member of the British Society of Restorative Dentistry, and an invited member of untold committees and groups to which he brought valuable common sense and clarity of thought.

Eoin's practical approach was reflected throughout his research career, which focused principally on mercury hazards in dental practice. His MDS thesis in 1980 was a huge body of self-directed work, far in excess of many current PhD or DDS theses. His knowledge was encyclopaedic, his views balanced and valued by those who called on his expert insight and editorial help. He pursued his studies with interest and a desire to provide answers, not a self-seeking agenda.

Clinically, there are few who could challenge the thoughtful treatment planning and operative grace of a man equally comfortable with cast pinlays as resin-bonded bridges; with copper rings and impression compound as hydrophilic silicone. Clinical students need the inspiration and security of comfortable, experienced clinicians, and who was the safest, gentlest mentor of so many generations of Newcastle students? What a legacy to have equipped more than 2000 dental students with core skills and attitudes, to the benefit of perhaps 4 million patients under their care.

...enthusiast, innovator and technophile...

Eoin was an enthusiast, an innovator, and a technophile who embraced everything new from the overhead projector to digital video as he worked to benefit students and their educational experience.

It was a privilege to have shared life with Eoin, and an over-filled crematorium gathered in unity of purpose to honour, admire and respect his lifetime of service and devotion. Our love and prayers are with Pat and the family as they come to terms with their loss.