Rate My Professor Ewen McColl

Professor Ewen McColl is Professor of Clinical Dentistry and Head of Peninsula Dental School within the University of Plymouth's Faculty of Health. He obtained his Bachelor of Dental Surgery from the University of Edinburgh in 1993, earning the Dr Baron Ver Heyden de Lancey Memorial Award for the most consistent all-round graduate. After house officer and senior house officer positions in maxillofacial surgery, he joined the British Army as a Dental Officer in 1995, serving as Senior Dental Officer in Afghanistan and undertaking two years of loan service with the Sultan of Brunei's Armed Forces. Following six years of general dental practice in the military, he completed three years of specialist training in periodontology at The Eastman Dental Hospital in London, achieving an MClinDent with distinction. He then undertook three years of training at Guy's Dental Hospital to become an accredited Restorative Consultant, including an externship in endodontics at Loma Linda University in California. Accredited in 2009, he worked as a military Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, managing referrals from general dental practitioners, before joining the University of Plymouth in September 2012 as Devonport DEF Clinical Lead.

At the University of Plymouth, Professor McColl advanced through roles as Director of Clinical Dentistry, Deputy Head of School, and Head of Peninsula Dental School since 2023. His research focuses on implant dentistry and all aspects of surgical and non-surgical periodontal therapy. He serves as module lead for the Restorative Dentistry Masters degree and has lectured and assessed nationally and internationally on periodontology and restorative dentistry. Key publications include 'An audit of endodontic diagnostic documentation compliance among undergraduate dental students in a UK primary care–based dental school' (BMC Medical Education, 2026), 'Polisher protocol' (British Dental Journal, 2026), 'Impact of early clinical exposure on the learning experience of undergraduate dental students' (European Journal of Dental Education, 2018), and 'Blended learning in undergraduate dental education: a global pilot study' (Medical Education Online, 2023). He holds influential positions including Editorial Director of Dental Update—the third in its 50-year history—Chair of the Dental Schools Council (UK and Ireland), Executive Board Chair of the Association of Dental Hospitals (UK and Ireland), and Editor of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners Standards in Dentistry. Awards include the Fellowship (Ad Eundem) of the Faculty of Dentistry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, for outstanding contributions as a teacher, clinician, and researcher. Under his leadership, Peninsula Dental School ranked top in the Guardian University League Table for Dentistry in 2024 and 2025.