Janet Griffiths MBE – LDS,MA
It is with great sadness that we report that our dear friend and colleague Janet Griffiths died after a short illness on 20th April 2025.
Janet was one of the original Special Care Dentists before the establishment of our specialty was even considered
She worked as an Associate Specialist at the Royal Earlswood Hospital in Surrey and then at Ely Hospital in Cardiff, before the introduction of Care in the Community policies led to the closure of such hospitals for people with a learning disability in the 1980s. She was based at the Dental Hospital and School in Cardiff from the early 80s, providing care in the ‘peripheral hospitals’ and was instrumental in opening a purpose-built dental unit at our local psychiatric hospital in Cardiff.
She was passionate about caring for all the vulnerable groups of adults we now consider patients of our speciality, and lived out that passion in her personal life by establishing a charity to provide holidays for people with a learning disability to improve their quality of life.
Janet was President of the British Society for Disability and Oral Health (BSDH) in 1998 and President of the British Society of Gerodontology (BSG) in 2006 and spent many years on the committees of both those organisations, being a key member of many of the expert working groups developing the original clinical guidelines for our specialty. She represented BSDH on the International (iADH ) committee so spread her expertise globally. She was also a stalwart member of the All Wales Special Interest Group for SCD (SIG). In all her work for these organisations, she was a crusader for oral health promotion for our patient groups, developing collaborations with appropriate charities and carer organisations, and leading the development of the work of all oral health professionals in SCD. Janet was an accomplished writer and academic with many significant publications. She was an excellent teacher and a particular champion for all DCPS, emphasising the importance of teamwork in SCD. She was a co-author of the key textbook ‘Holistic Oral Care’, a text essential for training oral health professionals at the time, and perhaps still is. All these achievements led to her being honoured with an MBE for her services to Special Care Dentistry.
Janet was about 10 years ahead of those of us who spent years on committees looking to convince others that the specialty of SCD was an absolute necessity within our profession so though she was one of the first specialists in SCD she was never fully recognised as a consultant in our field but to many dentists and DCPs in Wales and beyond she was our mentor, great friend and one of the original stars of SCD.
Sue Greening – Past President of BSDH (author) on behalf of
Debbie Lewis – Past President of BSDH and BSG
Shelagh Thompson – Past President of BSDH
Vicki Jones – Past President BSG
1.5.2025
May 20, 2025 1:37 pm