Consultant Orthodontist Group (COG)

For members working primarily within the hospital service

The Consultant Orthodontist Group provides a forum for the support, guidance and education of those working in the the hospital orthodontic service to secure optimal care for patients.

Meetings

  • A Symposium is held annually. A wide variety of topics are presented reflecting the diversity of the role of the Consultants and hospital practitioners.

Audit

  • The Group plays an active role in promoting good quality clinical audit and the publication of an audit newsletter. This is part of a continuing drive to more evidence-based clinical practice.

Training

  • A large majority of the undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in orthodontics is done by members of the Group.
  • Specialist trainees are included in all the Group’s activities.

Support and advice

  • Against a background of financial strain and continuing change in the purchasing and provision of healthcare, the group plays an important role in providing practical support and advice to members who experience difficulties in ensuring a continuation of quality hospital orthodontics because of financial and managerial pressures and decisions.

Advice to outside bodies

  • The group provides advice to a range of outside bodies on all aspects of hospital orthodontics.

Contribution to British Orthodontic Society

  • The group plays a very active part in the activities of the B.O.S. to promote and advance good quality orthodontic care as a whole.

The COG committee is drawn from members of the Society who work primarily in the Hospital Service

Sofia Ahmad

Sofia is Consultant Orthodontist at the Queen Victoria Hospital East Grinstead (QVH), and at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital London (GSTT).  Clinically Sofia works in both Orthognathic and Hypodontia MDT’s, leads the Hypodontia Service at the QVH and is a member of the GSTT Hypodontia Team for which she leads on running the team Hypodontia Courses. She is involved in postgraduate training both at the QVH and GSTT and has held Educational, Clinical and Research supervisor roles for Specialty Trainees and Post CCST Trainees and is a member of the Specialty Training Committee for Orthodontics (Health Education England). She has previously co-authored an Orthodontic text “Clinical Cases in Orthodontics”. Sofia has examined for the MFDS (RCS ENG), the MSc in Orthodontics (KCL) and for the Conjoint MOrth (Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Kings College London). She has been appointed to examiner role for the MOrth for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2020. Sofia is the Trust Clinical Governance Lead at the QVH and as COG committee member represents the COG on the BOS Clinical Governance Committee. She has an interest in patient information, and has previously published around Orthognathic patient information needs, and is collaborating on the development of an information resource for Hypodontia patients.

COG Committee: Committee Member

Charlotte Dugdale

Mrs Charlotte Dugdale currently works as a Consultant Orthodontist at Royal Blackburn Hospital and as a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Manchester, where she teaches, trains and supervises UK and overseas orthodontic trainees. She also works in a private orthodontic practice in Cheshire.

COG Committee: Committee Member

Andrew Flett

Andrew is a Consultant Orthodontist at Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham. He was appointed in 2016. He was a past treasurer of the TGG committee and has previously represented the BOS on the RCS clinical standards committee. He was also a Speciality Advisor for Orthodontics for the South Yorkshire and East Midlands region from 2018-2020.

COG Committee: Chair
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Helen Tippett

COG Committee: Committee member - SAC representative
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Bridget Doubleday

COG Committee: Committee member - Scotland Rep

Rhian Fitzgerald

COG Committee: Committee Member

Farooq Ahmed

Farooq gained his Bachelor of Dental Surgery with Honours from the University of Manchester in 2009, and entered specialised training in orthodontics in 2012 at the University of Manchester Dental Hospital and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

COG Committee: Committee Member
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Darren Johnston

COG Committee: Committee Member Northern Ireland Rep

Spencer Nute

Spencer has worked as a consultant and clinical lead at Southend and Basildon Hospitals in Essex since 2000. He also works in two private specialist practices. He has been an examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons of England and is an examiner for Queen Mary University of London.

COG Committee: Committee Member

Pamela Ellis

Pamela is a Consultant Orthodontist and Clinical Lead at Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester. She trained in Manchester and Sheffield before taking up her Consultant post in Dorset over 16 years ago. She is actively involved in training and is the Associate Dean for Speciality Training in the South West.

COG Committee: Committee Treasurer

Amelia Jerreat

Amelia Jerreat was appointed to her current position as an Orthodontic Consultant at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in 2007. She underwent orthodontic specialty training at Eastman Dental Institute from 2000 – 2003 and was awarded an MSc in Orthodontics followed by Membership in Orthodontics at the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians, Edinburgh.

COG Committee: Honorary Secretary

Helen Travess

Helen is a Consultant Orthodontist and Clinical Lead at Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust. She is a past TGG secretary and Chair, and more recently was elected to the COG committee with the role of Symposium organiser for both London and Liverpool. She has returned to the COG Committee having been elected as Chair in 2019. 

COG Committee

David Waring

David qualified in 1995 from Leeds University Dental School. After various practice and hospital posts he joined the orthodontic specialist registrar training programme in Liverpool. He completed his specialist training in Orthodontics in 2003 gaining the Membership in Orthodontics from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the M.Dent.Sci from the University of Liverpool.

Education Committee: Committee Member COG Committee: Committee Member

Nikki Atack

Nikki Atack qualified from Bristol University in 1989 where she also completed her postgraduate orthodontic studies in 1996 following which she undertook her senior registrar training at Bristol and Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.

Board of Trustees: President COG Committee: Committee Member - BOS President