John Metcalf

John Metcalf LDS, D.Orth FDSRCSEng  

(1932-2022)

John died peacefully surrounded by his family on 17^th June 2022, having fallen ill shortly after celebrating his 90^th birthday. 

John was born in Bury St Edmunds and qualified from Guy’s Hospital Dental School in 1955. After National Service he entered general dental practice in Thames Ditton but having soon decided on a career in orthodontics obtained a part time registrar post in the Children’s Dental Department of Guy’s at a time when it was still possible to fulfil the requirements for the DOrth.RCS.Eng  by a preceptorship rather than by attending a full time a taught course.

John applied himself to whatever he did with industry and dedication. At that time more than 90 per cent of NHS orthodontics was still undertaken with removable appliances and the use of simple fixed appliances was confined to hospital departments.  Like many of his generation, John was soon aware that his D.Orth training and subsequent Senior Registrar experience at Guys had not equipped him to provide an internationally acceptable standard of treatment. This long-standing inadequacy was later to be acknowledged by Dick Mills in his 1977 editorial, ¹ but John was already well ahead of the game. In the 1960’s he attended a Tweed Edgewise course at Tucson Arizona and had followed this up it up by joining one of the early Begg Courses held in Nijmegen.

In 1969 John was appointed to a new consultant post at Woolwich and Dartford which included one day a week at Guys where he remained a popular and effective undergraduate teacher. Always unfailingly helpful and cheerful, he endeared himself to many generations of students. During this time, he met an attractive Guy’s house surgeon intent on a career in orthodontics and he and Eileen married in 1972.  

Soon after his consultant appointment John set up the Brook Orthodontic Study Group at Shooters Hill to raise local GDS treatment standards and then became the local Postgraduate Tutor. He was later to become chairman of the Regional Dental Committee and a member of the Dental Surgery Specialty sub-committee of the Regional Medical Committee.

In 1992 John was elected President of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics. His thoughtful Presidential Address “The Year of Change” accurately foresaw the changes in specialist dental training which were likely to follow the implementation of the European Act of that year and which were later described in the Mouatt Report of 1995.

John retired in 1997 and was now able to devote more time to his family and his many interests. These included fly fishing, traditional jazz, gardening and wine (he had an extensive air-conditioned wine cellar). Keen on motoring from an early age John was a long-term member of the Institute of Advanced Motorist (now IAM Smart) and held the RoSPA Gold Award. Until recently he was an official observer/instructor for those aiming to pass the IAM tests and provided free lessons for many friends and local residents wishing to take this.  The high esteem in which he was held, both among his colleagues and within the local community of  Knockholt, was reflected by the huge attendance at this funeral held at St Katherine’s church. John is survived by his wife Eileen and his five children.