1927−2020

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Don Sarll was born in Cambridge to William Sarll, a tailor who developed tuberculosis while fighting in the First World War, and died in 1938. Don was then sent to the Royal Russell boarding school, Croydon, narrowly missing death in a Second World War bombing raid.

He was conscripted into the army and on his return ship to the UK his commanding officer suggested dentistry as a career. As a result, Don went to Manchester University Dental School, where he qualified in 1954. His first post was in the practice of Alec Milne Gall in Manchester, and he took over there when Alec retired. Eventually he set up the Sarll and Hingston practice in 1968 and it became Sarll, Hingston and Conibear in 1969. He undertook research, leading to a Master of Dental Surgery degree at Manchester in 1980, which investigated how the organisational structure of the dental profession affected the ability of GDPs to respond to change, being one of the first to show the advantages of group practices. These interests and qualifications led him to apply for and obtain the Area Dental Officer post at Salford Health Authority. Later he took on the same role in Trafford Health Authority as well and became one of the first group of specialists in community dental health to be appointed. He was also a vocal campaigner for the fluoridation of water, making television and radio appearances to advocate its adoption across Britain.

Don felt passionately that, as well as its specialist role in caring for special needs groups of the population, the Community Dental Service had a unique opportunity to carry out high quality research. Many members of staff including dental nurses will be forever grateful for the opportunities he gave them to carry out research and obtain additional qualifications. He retired in 1992, following which he wrote a thesis based on his collective research findings; this was accepted by Manchester University for the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. In 1993 he was honoured to be inaugurated as President of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry and was awarded an honorary MSc by the University of Salford to recognise the contribution he had made to the city. Shortly afterwards, in order to be closer to his family, he left Salford for High Wycombe, where he revelled in his grandfatherly duties.

A member of the Labour party for most of his adult life, he was a loyal Guardian reader who contributed on occasion to the paper's letters page. In Manchester he was a magistrate, a committed supporter of St Ann's Hospice, and an active member of his local parent-teacher association. He is survived by his wife, Isobelle (nee Ramsden), a teacher whom he married in 1952, their three children, Charlie, Robert and Sarah, and seven grandchildren.

Gary Whittle