Richard Johns obituary

My father, Richard Johns, who has died aged 96, was one of the early pioneers of dental implantology and its application as an accepted procedure. In collaboration with the Swedish professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark, in 1991 he set up the Dental Implant Institute in Sheffield, the first school in the UK to provide courses on implant techniques, as well as treatment. Dedicated to his profession, he was also president of the British Endodontic Society, the British Society for Restorative Dentistry and the odontological section of the Royal Society of Medicine. Richard was born in Sutton, Surrey, to Walter, an accountant, and Cynthia (nee Gamble), a secretary, and went to St Paul’s school in London. After leaving he completed his national service as a dental orderly with the RAF, stationed in Hong Kong. In 1949 he enrolled at Guy’s hospital to study dentistry, qualifying in 1955, the year after he married Pam Thurgood, a teacher whom he had met through the Inter Varsity social club. He initially worked as a house surgeon at Guy’s and as a part-time registrar, while also taking up an associate role at a practice in New Eltham, south London. After three years juggling those responsibilities