Professor Damien Walmsley PhD, MSc, BDS, FDSRCPS

Damien Walmsley

School of Dentistry
Director of Internationalisation
Head of Teaching Unit of Prosthetic Dentistry

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0) 121 466 5493 (Secretary)
Email
a.d.walmsley@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
The School of Dentistry
5 Mill Pool Way
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B5 7EG
United Kingdom

International work

In my role as Director of Internationalisation for the College of Medical and Dental Sciences, I assist the College in attracting the best students from around the world, enhance the global nature of our students’ experience, grow the International reach and impact of our research and extend strategically the MDS global footprint. 

For enquiries relating to my Director of Internationalisation role, please contact Taslima Begum: t.begum@bham.ac.uk  Telephone +44 (0) 121 4142523

Qualifications

  • Certificate of specialisation General Dental Council 1999
  • Certificate of Accreditation Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow 1992
  • F.D.S. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow 1987
  • Ph.D. Victoria University of Manchester 1985
  • M.Sc. Victoria University of Manchester 1983
  • B.D.S. Victoria University of Manchester 1981

Biography


  • Director of Internationalisation (2017 to date)
  • Head of Teaching Unit (2004 to date)
  • Professor of Restorative Dentistry (2000 to date). The University of Birmingham
  • Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, South Birmingham Community Health Foundation Trust (1993 to date)
  • Lecturer 1985, Senior Lecturer 1991, The University of Birmingham
  • MSc (1983) and PhD (1985) on "The uses and potential biological effects of ultrasound in dentistry". The University of Manchester.
  • Doctoral Research sponsored by MRC studentship. The University of Manchester (1982 – 1985)
  • House Officer at Guys hospital and St Barts Hospital (1981 to 1982)
  • Undergraduate studies at Manchester Dental School of Dentistry (1976 – 1981)

Teaching

  • Dental Surgery BDS
  • Head of Teaching Unit of Prosthetic Dentistry
  • Contributes to teaching in Modules
  • Year 1 (Healthcare Ethics and Law, Introduction to Clinical Dentistry)
  • Year 2 (Practical Dental Skills, Clinical Skills, Introduction to Simulated Clinical Procedures,
  • Year 3 (Simulated Clinical Procedures, Introduction to Clinical Practice and Speciality Teaching
  • Year 4 (Advanced Simulated Clinical Procedures and Speciality Teaching)
  • Year 5 (Preparation for General Dental Practice and Student Selected Module Clinical Studies)
  • MSc in Advanced General Dental Practice.

Postgraduate supervision

 Supervising doctoral research students in the following areas:

  • The use of Ultrasound in Dentistry. Its role in treating periodontal disease, endodontics and oral surgery. This involves applied research on the use of ultrasound including knowledge of Physics and clinical application.
  • Imaging of teeth and dental plaque with novel technologies.
  • The effectiveness of elearning in dentistry.
  • Supervised 16 postgraduate doctoral students (12 as lead supervisor) and 6 research masters
  • All completed within time period and published on average 3.5 papers per thesis

If you are interesting in studying any of these subject areas please contact Damien on the contact details above, or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email: dr@contacts.bham.ac.uk or call +44 (0)121 414 5005.

For a full list of available Doctoral Research opportunities, please visit our Doctoral Research programme listings.　　　

Research

Ultrasound in dentistry

Current projects in dental ultrasonics

Present research is linked to removal of biofilms around dental implants by cavitation produced by ultrasonic instruments.  This involves Imaging of cavitation around teeth and implants with a high speed camera.  This work is done jointly with the School of Mathematics at the University of Birmingham

We are involved in the development of a new ultrasonic drill (Ultrasurge) is a multidisciplinary project led by Prof Margaret Lucas at Glasgow University.  It involves 5 universities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Southampton and Birmingham) and we lead on the ultrasonic bioeffects.  We are looking at how ultrasound across a range of frequencies and intensities stimulates stem cells.  The aim is to improve healing following surgical cutting of bone and tissue.

 Educational research

  • Investigations continue on the use of technology in dental education.  The present interest is in the use of short videos for dental education and we are conducting an international study on the way students use video content in their studies

 Clinical Research

  • Lead for Birmingham site on a Dunhill Grant sponsored grant on the use of 3-D printed complete Dentures.  This research is led by the University of leads and is to develop and assess a cost-effective workflow that will enhance the clinical delivery of dentures to patients.

Other activities

Positions of Responsibility

  • Member of School Executive
  • Graduate School Director for Dentistry  
  • Head of the teaching unit of Prosthetic Dentistry
  • Member of International Engagement Committee
  • Vice Chair for Universitas 21 Health Sciences
  • Trustee of St Mary’s Hospice, Birmingham.

External Appointments

  • Scientific Advisor to British Dental Association
  • Peer review council of EPSRC
  • Immediate past President of Association for Dental Education in Europe

Research

  • Ultrasonics in Dentistry covering ultrasonic scalers, endosonics and ultrasonic bone surgery
  • Co-author on Cochrane publications on Powered toothbrushes.　
  • Published over 280 papers
  • Presented numerous keynote lectures at national and international level
  • Steering committee of PSIBS (Physical Sciences of imaging in the Biological Sciences)
  • Researching novel imaging techniques for biological applications.

Educational highlights

  • Interest in all things IT, and at the cutting edge of teaching and learning in dentistry.　
  • Editor of http://brumdentists.com
  • Photography http://www.flickr.com/photos/damienwalmsley/
  • Passion for uptake of social networking and eLearning
  • Team member that won the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year, sponsored by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).　

Influence 

  • Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Dentistry 2002 -2011
  • Emeritus Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Dentistry
  • Editorial board of the British Dental Journal and European Journal of Dental Education, European Journal of Restorative Dentistry and Journal of Dental Education. 
  • President of the British Society for the Study of Prosthetic Dentistry 2010-2011
  • Chairman of the PanDental Society organising committee 2010-2011
  • Regularly speaks on research and innovation
  • Queen's Anniversary Prize Judge (2015) 

Publications

Dias da Silva, MA & Walmsley, A 2019, 'Fake news and dental education' British Dental Journal, vol. 226, no. 6, pp. 397-399. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-019-0079-z

Dias da Silva, MA, Pereira, A & Walmsley, A 2019, 'Who is providing dental education content via YouTube?' British Dental Journal, vol. 226, no. 6, pp. 437–440. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-019-0046-8

Khatoon, B, Walmsley, A & Hill, K 2019, 'Mobile learning in dentistry: challenges and opportunities' British Dental Journal.

Vyas, N, Manmi, K, Wang, QX, Jadhav, AJ, Sammons, R, Barigou, M, Sammons, RL, Kuehne, S & Walmsley, A 2019, 'Which parameters affect biofilm removal with acoustic cavitation? a review' Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

Petrov, T, Pecheva, E, Walmsley, A & Dimov, S 2018, 'Femtosecond laser ablation of dentin and enamel for fast and more precise dental cavity preparation' Materials Science and Engineering C, vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 433-438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2018.04.070

Dragan, IF, Dalessandri, D, Johnson, LA, Tucker, A & Walmsley, AD 2018, 'Impact of scientific and technological advances' European Journal of Dental Education, vol. 22 , no. Suppl 1, pp. 17-20. https://doi.org/10.1111/eje.12342

Field, JC, Cowpe, JG & Walmsley, AD 2017, 'The Graduating European Dentist: A New Undergraduate Curriculum Framework' European Journal of Dental Education, vol. 21, no. Suppl 1, pp. 2-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/eje.12307

Field, JC, Walmsley, AD, Paganelli, C, McLoughlin, J, Szep, S, Kavadella, A, Manzanares Cespedes, MC, Davies, JR, DeLap, E, Levy, G, Gallagher, J, Roger-Leroi, V & Cowpe, JG 2017, 'The Graduating European Dentist: Contemporaneous Methods of Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Dental Undergraduate Education' European Journal of Dental Education, vol. 21 Suppl 1, pp. 28-35. https://doi.org/10.1111/eje.12312

Vyas, N, Sammons, R, Walmsley, A, Wang, Q, Dehghani, H & Leppinen, D 2017, 'Imaging and Analysis of Individual Cavitation Microbubbles around Dental Ultrasonic' Ultrasonics, vol. 81, pp. 66–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2017.05.015

Robinson, J, Walmsley, A & Cooper, P 2017, 'Cleaning lateral morphological features of the root canal: the role of streaming and cavitation' International Endodontic Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/iej.12804

Field, J & Walmsley, A 2017, 'Curriculum content and assessment of pre-clinical dental skills: A survey of undergraduate dental education in Europe.' European Journal of Dental Education. https://doi.org/10.1111/eje.12276

Gao, Q, Cooper, P, Walmsley, A & Scheven, B 2017, 'Role of PIEZO channels in ultrasound-stimulated dental stem cells' Journal of Endodontics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joen.2017.02.022

Vyas, N, Sammons, R, Pikramenou, Z, Palin, W, Dehghani, H & Walmsley, A 2017, 'Penetration of Sub-micron Particles into Dentinal Tubules using Ultrasonic Cavitation' Journal of Dentistry, vol. 56, pp. 112-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdent.2016.11.006

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

As Scientific Advisor to the British Dental Association, I comment on many high profile scientific topis related to dentistry. These include Flouridation, Oral Health, growing new teeth, use of mouth washes and new technologicies in dentistry. I am happy to advise or discuss any research used in dentistry.

Alternative contact number available for this expert: contact the press office