Dr Norma O’Connor provides the oral surgery service for patients referred to Riverpoint Dental Specialist Clinic. She studied dentistry in University College Cork, graduating with Honours in Oral Surgery in 2004. She gained experience in General Dental Practice before pursuing further study in her chosen specialty of Oral Surgery. She completed an SHO post in the Dublin Dental Hospital followed by SHO posts in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Chichester, West Sussex and the Mid Western Hospital Limerick. She was awarded with Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2008. She completed a four and a half year Oral Surgery Specialty Training programme in the Edinburgh Postgraduate Dental Insitute. During this time she successfully completed her Membership and Fellowship examinations in Oral Surgery with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. She also completed a Masters in Oral Surgery with the University of Edinburgh in 2013, graduating with a distinction.

She has worked as a Consultant in Oral Surgery in the Edinburgh Postgraduate Dental Institute since June 2015 and took on the role of Interim Programme Director for the Masters in Oral Surgery Programme from August 2015 to July 2016. Dr O’Connor is a member of the British Association of Oral Surgeons and the Irish Dental Association.

She provides a full range of oral surgery services including:

• Simple and surgical removal of teeth including wisdom teeth and other impacted teeth
• Exposure of unerupted teeth
• Management of cystic lesions
• Assessment and management of other soft and hard tissue lesions
• Diagnosis and management of temporomandibular joint dysfunction syndrome and facial pain
• Surgical endodontics.

Treatment can be carried out under local anaesthetic or with adjunctive conscious sedation for anxious patients as required.

Padraig McAuliffe is a specialist prosthodontist who completed his undergraduate dental training in University College Cork in 2002. In 2004, he became a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Following 3 years in private practice in Dublin, in 2007 he entered a 3 year full-time graduate program in prosthodontics in Trinity College Dublin. He completed his clinical doctorate in prosthodontics in 2010, graduating with a first class honours degree.

After finishing his graduate training in prosthodontics, Padraig worked in Montreal in the renowned team of Professor Gilles Lavigne, where he gained further expertise on bruxism and the dental management of sleep apnoea. In addition to clinical practice he also leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers in Trinity College Dublin in research projects focusing on bruxism. This research is carried out in collaboration with the Department of Bioengineering and a number of overseas research institutes in Europe and North America. His work on bruxism has been published in international journals, has won international research awards and has been featured on RTE Six One News. He has lectured extensively in Ireland on many aspects of prosthodontics.

His areas of particular interest are the management of bruxism, tooth wear, the management of failing dentures and the treatment of complex occlusal problems. At Riverpoint, he will offer a full range of prosthodontic services, including:

• Conventional and implant supported crown and bridgework
• Partial dentures with and without implant support
• Conventional complete dentures
• Removable implant overdentures and fixed complete dentures on implants
• Complex occlusal issues and management of toothwear
• Full mouth reconstructions
• Oral appliances for sleep apnoea

Please find our full list of treatments here.

Dr. Emily Clarke is a specialised periodontist who qualified from Dublin Dental School as a general dentist in 2001 and received the Sheldon Friel Award from Trinity College for receiving the highest overall result in her final examinations.

Over the following number of years Emily gained a wide range of experience in all aspects of dentistry through working as a House Officer in the Dublin Dental School and Hospital, as a general dentist in both the HSE and the private sector and also as a general dentist in Australia. In 2004 she successfully completed her membership exams for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (MFDS). She subsequently spent time working as a Senior House Officer in Maxillofacial Units in the North Bristol NHS Trust, UK and in the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick where she gained extensive experience in oral surgery.

Emily then embarked on her three year postgraduate specialist training course in Periodontology and Implant Dentistry which had both a clinical and research aspect and received a first class honours doctorate in Periodontology in 2008. Her research investigated the success of short implants and patient centred outcome measures following implant placement. Her training has also been accredited by the European Federation of Periodontology.

Dr. Clarke was one of the co-authors of a position paper on the surgical treatment of periimplantitis published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology in 2008. She is an active member of the Irish Society of Periodontology and the European Federation of Periodontology. She also regularly lectures at various Continuous Dental Education Programes for dentists and hygienists in Ireland.

Emily has been working as a Periodontist and Implantologist since 2008 in specialist practice limited to periodontology and implantology in Galway and LImerick.

As a specialist periodontist Dr. Clarke provides treatments such as the following:

• Non surgical and surgical treatment of periodontal disease
• Gingivectomies
• Crown lengthening to improve aesthetics or to facilitate prosthetic treatment
• Frenectomies
• Exposure of unerupted teeth for orthodontic reasons
• Soft tissue grafting for the treatment of recession
• Ridge augmentations
• Implant placement
• Treatment of periimplantitis

Please find our full list of treatments here.