Dr Rachael Nichol, clinical lead and consultant paediatric dentist at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, has become president of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD), a change that matters to association and institute professionals as a professional body’s presidency passes to a frontline community clinician at a time of rising demand for children’s dental care.

The BSPD is the UK’s professional body dedicated to improving the oral health of children and young people, providing meetings, publications and news for the national paediatric dentistry community.

Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust runs the Community Dental Service based in Wakefield, which Dr Nichol leads clinically. The trust celebrated her appointment as recognition of her longstanding commitment to children’s oral health and her experience in community dental services.

Dr Nichol took up the role at the society’s National Study Day in York, succeeding Dr Oosh Devalia OBE.

Dr Nichol said, “Throughout my career I have been passionate about making a positive difference to children and their families through specialist dental care.”

The presidency passes at a point when children’s oral health problems remain concentrated and persistent rather than easing.

A total of 21,787 children aged five to nine were admitted to hospital in England for decay in 2025/26, up from 21,162 the year before, according to Brit Brief. Decay affects 32 per cent of five-year-olds in the most deprived areas against 14 per cent in the least deprived, according to the Care Quality Commission, as reported by Dentistry.

For the sector, a society led by a community service clinician keeps its priorities close to the settings where most children’s dental care is delivered. For the sector’s specialist societies specifically, a rotating presidency from different services and regions brings varied clinical experience to a short, fixed term.

Annual presidencies also depend on continuity between officers, which makes the handover from one president to the next part of how a society keeps its agenda consistent.

Whether the society turns its presidential year into measurable progress on access and prevention, rather than continued awareness work, will indicate how far a professional body can influence children’s dental outcomes across the sector.

Source: Wakefield Express / Brit Brief / Dentistry