Prof. Nick Barker BDS MSc FHEA MDTFEd MFGDP(UK) PGCME

Nick Barker qualified BDS from the Royal London Hospital in 1990. He has since gone on to gain additional qualifications with distinction in the MSc in Restorative Dental Practice in 2009 at University College London’s Eastman Institute. He has also gained Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, Membership of the Faculty of Dental Trainers at Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, Membership of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners at Royal College of Surgeons England and a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education from University of Essex.

He is primarily a general dentist, having set up Oracle Dental Group in 1994 in a partnership with Hayden Dixon which now operates out of 3 buildings across 2 sites in East of England.

One site works predominantly under NHS contract reform where there is a total of 10 surgeries, along with lecture room, other training facilities and laboratory facilities. There is a large mixture of clinicians, including dental nurses and receptionists, extended duties dental nurses, hygienists and student hygienists, therapists and student therapists, foundation dentists, associate dentists, principal dentists and MSc students studying Periodontology and Advanced Periodontal Care at the University of Essex.

These extensive facilities in Colchester were set up in collaboration between Nick and the University of Essex, and notably Professor Phil Cannell, with the Academic Dental Clinic of the University of Essex being formally opened by the Chief Dental Officer in April 2016 to recognise its forward-thinking methodology of education of the dental profession.

In view of his work at both the University of Essex and NHS England, Nick has been awarded the position of Honorary Professor in the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Essex.

The Coggeshall site provides care only under private contract, where he also provides treatment on referral for endodontics and restorative dentistry, as well as working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, including a specialist periodontist and a specialist orthodontist to provide care for complex cases, such as implants and patients who are missing multiple teeth which did not form naturally.

Nick’s teaching commitments include being a Postgraduate Dental Tutor for Health Education England to develop the dental workforce, a Clinical Lecturer in the MSc at the University of Essex and Senior Lecturer at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry in Dental Public Health in Primary Care and Dental Public Health. He also lectures nationally on a variety of dental subjects for Health Education England, British Dental Association and various dental companies.

He provides training for Health Education England in respect of extended duties for dental nurses alongside the Dental Care Professional Lead for Health Education Midlands and East.

He is also employed by NHS England as the Chair of Essex Local Dental Network (LDN). The role of the LDN is to oversee the commissioning and provision of dental care in a wide variety of environments and care providers across the region and encourage integration of all to ensure we have optimal patients’ care at its core. In this role, he is regularly in meetings across England to engage with groups nationally as well as present on various programmes he is developing. In this role, he also provides leadership and management mentorship for Health Education England for both professionals in dentistry and the wider medical professions.

In addition, Nick is regularly instructed as a dento-legal expert witness both in regulatory and civil work nationally. In this role, he provides evidence in respect of a wide spectrum of dental care to professional committees and at hearings.

He also sits on both English and UK Councils and the General Dental Practice Committee at the British Dental Association as a representative for Essex dental professionals.

Nick is a member of the British Endodontic Society, British Society of Periodontology and British Society of Restorative Dentistry.

He is currently the Honorary Secretary of the Essex Branch of the British Dental Association and a member of Essex Local Dental Committee and is an accredited national trainer for Dentsply Sirona and DMG dental companies.

2021