Frank Holloway, a retired army dentist based in Surrey, was installed as the 126th President of the British Dental Association (BDA) at 9am on Thursday 26 April. Dr Holloway, the first armed forces dentist to receive this honour since 2003, was presented with his chain of office and made his inaugural speech as BDA President at the opening of the 2012 British Dental Conference and Exhibition at the Manchester Central Convention Complex.
Dr Holloway gained his Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from Bristol University in 1969 and his Licence in Dental Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons in the same year.
After five years in general practice in the UK, he worked for the US Army in Bavaria as a civilian dentist. Three years later he joined the British Army, subsequently working in Germany, Texas, Cyprus, the Outer Hebrides and occasionally in England. Frank achieved the rank of Colonel and completed his regular army service as Commandant of the Royal Army Dental Corps, Commanding Officer of the Defence Dental Services Training Centre and Principal Dental Officer of the Home Counties region. He spent the last five years of his career treating new recruits and recently retired after 33 years in the army.
In 1986/87 he did an MSc in conservative dentistry at the Eastman Dental Institute London, after which he taught and ran a referral service for six years. He was then selected for command posts but maintained his clinical involvement and started a long association of activities with the BDA. Frank has been a member of the BDA’s Armed Forces Committee since 1998 and was elected its chair in 2006, a post he had held to date. He has also been a member of Representative Body since 2006. He has represented the BDA nationally on the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Armed Forces Committee since 1998, and is also on the BMA’s Co-ordinating Group.
Dr Holloway said:
“It is a great honour to become President of the BDA and I look forward to serving my fellow professionals in this capacity.
“I look forward to being an ambassador for the profession, both in the UK and abroad, during my term of office.”
Married to Carole, he has two daughters. Away from dentistry Frank enjoys hill walking, golfing and gardening.
