Paul Shepherd

Paul Shepherd was born in Fleet, Hampshire, on 8 August 1922. He was trained at King's College Hospital and qualified LDSRCS (Eng) in 1944 after which he was posted to RAF stations in Essex, the Sudan, Egypt and Italy. In 1948 he joined a Plymouth practice as an assistant and in 1950 bought the dental practice in Torrington, Devonshire. He retired in 1983.

In the Blitz, King's College Hospital student groups doubled up as fire fighting teams and he spent many hours dealing with incendiary bombs on the hospital roof. His house was destroyed. A flying bomb explosion interrupted his final exam.

He was much involved in dental politics as a student and was instrumental in setting up the British Dental Students' Association in 1942. As BDSA secretary he prepared a memorandum for Lord Teviot's Committee on Dentistry. He pleaded in the BDJ for what became the General Dental Council and for properly funded dental schools (Shepherd P R. Dental education: the students' point of view. Br Dent J 1943; 75: 116–118). Fifty-three years later, he co-wrote a BMJ editorial, Privatising the NHS: dentistry paves the way (Br Med J 1996; 312: 922–923) drawing attention to the importance of adequate NHS dental services. His proudest achievement in dentistry though, was looking after people - almost all NHS patients - in Torrington.

He constantly updated his practice, recruiting his children to help with time and motion studies. With GPs as anaesthetists - in the 1950s one of them used a chloroform soaked handkerchief - he provided a GA extraction service. Bleeding sockets were sometimes dealt with in the family kitchen.

For half a century, supported by his devoted wife Heather and his lively Christian faith, he was a stalwart and imaginative BDA North Devon section officer, friend of Lee Abbey, Radio Devon broadcaster, writer for the North Devon Journal, chapel deacon, town trustee and lay preacher.

He passed away, aged 87, on 5 December 2009. He is survived by his wife and four sons, one of whom followed him into dentistry and is a member of the BDJ editorial board.