Mike Lennon obituary

My friend and former colleague, Mike Lennon, who has died aged 78, was appointed to the staff of the University of Manchester in 1969, becoming senior lecturer in community dentistry in 1980.

There, with Professor Phil Holloway, he developed supplementary undergraduate training outside the dental school. Students were sent out to clinics managed by local health authorities, and treated mainly child patients under supervision.

This novel “outreach” approach, initially opposed by traditional dental educators (though students loved it), has now been adopted by every dental school in the UK, and trials have shown that students’ ability to formulate realistic treatment plans is greatly increased as a result.

Mike was also a co-director of the groundbreaking trial of a capitation system which paid general dental practitioners an annual fee to provide all the treatment necessary for child patients in a year, instead of a fee per filling or extraction, for example. Health ministers, who thought that the “fee per item” system incentivised overtreatment, were very pleased with the results, and the system was adopted nationwide.

He was born in Liverpool, to John Lennon, a headteacher, who was known by his middle name, Pearse, and Betty (nee Healey). Mike qualified from Liverpool dental school in 1966 and gained the diploma in public dentistry from Dundee University before joining Manchester.

A committed advocate of the fluoridation of public water supplies, he was chair of the British Fluoridation Society from 1987 until 2012. In 1989 he was appointed professor of dental public health by the University of Liverpool, and honoured as an emeritus professor on his retirement. In 2003, finding full retirement unappealing, he moved to a part time chair at the University of Sheffield, managing Sheffield’s outreach programme.

During a distinguished academic career Mike published more than 100 articles in refereed journals, was a busy referee for 20 journals and in global demand as an external lecturer and examiner. A founder member of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry, he served as its secretary (1977-81), president (1984-85), and editor of its journal, Community Dental Health 2010-16. He was appointed OBE in 2006.

His very busy professional life would not have been possible without the support of his wife, Gill (nee Smith), whom he met at Liverpool dental school, and married in 1969. His interests outside work included classical music and supporting both Liverpool and Everton.

He is survived by Gill, their daughters, Sarah, Helen and Kate, and son, Chris, and nine grandchildren.