Meet the President

The President does not undertake an executive role but represents the BDA at appropriate meetings and events in the UK and overseas. The President also offers counsel through attendance at meetings of the board.

The current president of the BDA is John Milne.

John Milne

MBE, BChD, FCGDent (hon)

John qualified in 1980 from Leeds School of Dentistry and worked, until 2022, as a General Dental Practitioner in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, with a special interest in orthodontics. 

For eight years, John was the senior national dental adviser to the Care Quality Commission, a role he held until March 2023. In recognition of his services to dentistry, John was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2015.

This experience of engaging with stakeholders who influence dentists' livelihoods was one of the factors that John brought to the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC), where he has been a member for almost 30 years: he was elected by his peers to serve two terms as chair of GDPC (2009-2015). During this time, John played a leading role in driving contract reform, first as a member of the NHS Next Stage Review: Our vision for primary and community care, and then for 11 years (2010-2021) as a member of the National Steering Group for Dental Contract Reform.