A Consultation With Dr Alasdair Gillies by Mike Gow BDS (Gla) MFDS RCPS (Gla) MSc Hyp (Lon) PGCert (Edin), Editor, DentaltownUK magazine

It was my great privilege to recently interview my first clinical tutor, and now friend, Dr.?Alasdair Gillies BDS, FDSFRCPSG, CStJ, MBE. Alasdair was named recently in the Queen’s Birthday honours list and receives an MBE for his services to music, the Gaelic language and charity. You see, as well as being a dentist, Alasdair was also a professional Scottish singer.

I find it remarkable that he was able to pursue both careers so successfully and become so accomplished in both. At the start of the interview, I reminisced about when I met Alasdair on my first student clinic in 1996, and how later that year he helped me make one of my first set of complete dentures, for my own grandmother. (She was adamant that I wasn’t to tell anyone she had dentures and that I was making new ones—that was, until she realised that my tutor was the famous singer Alasdair Gilles. Then I couldn’t stop her telling people that her new teeth were made by her grandson and Alasdair Gillies!)

In the interview, Alasdair talked of his early life and living on the Isle of Skye as a child. In my clinic our surgeries are named after Scottish islands, so after the interview it seemed like outside the ‘Skye’ room was a fitting location for a photograph!

We talked about what inspired Alasdair’s musical career and also his career as a dentist. Impressively, Alasdair revealed that he attended The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama as a part-time student at the same time he was an undergraduate in dentistry. The fact that he was awarded the Ash Prize for Clinical Excellence in Dentistry in his graduating year shows that his dentistry never suffered while he pursued his musical interests!

In his musical career, Alasdair gave live performances internationally, recorded 24 albums, and featured on television (BBC and STV). He even hosted a Canadian television show called Ceilidh in the 1970s. This was filmed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, by CBC.

On discovering that Alasdair did not have any copies of these shows and that he would dearly love to see them again, I contacted a dentist friend from Halifax to see if he knew anyone at CBC. Dr Kirk Blanchard rose to the challenge and after telling me that CBC was ‘across the street’, he visited them and helped to get the ball rolling.

Within a week of the interview, we had located the footage and Alasdair will soon be able to revisit some precious memories! I was delighted to play a part in helping find the footage and am quite looking forward to seeing it myself.

In the interview Alasdair talked of meeting George Martin and recording with Decca Records and at Abbey Road. As well as recording dozens of Gaelic and Scottish songs, he also recorded Gaelic versions of Beatles songs, including ‘Yesterday,’ and Sandie Shaw’s ‘Puppet on a String’. He talks of his friendship with the legendary Ken Dodd, and reveals why he is tickling under Ken’s kilt with a ‘tickling stick’ in the photo at left.

Alasdair has given an impressive amount of time and work for a variety of charities, some of which we talked about in the interview—mainly about his accomplishments and career in dentistry, from working as a House Officer in Belfast, to lecturing and tutoring at the Glasgow Dental Hospital, General Practice in Drumchapel (Glasgow), to the Armed Forces Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and as coordinator of dental services in the HCI/Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank. Alasdair talked about the importance of the relationship and communication with his staff and laboratories.

Since I first met him in 1996, Alasdair Gillies has been an inspiration to me. What I learned over the years was that his dual careers had several things in common that were attributes that I felt could be modelled. These were professionalism, dedication, passion, high standards and joy for and commitment to what he was doing.

Alasdair talked about the importance of keeping good company both professionally and personally. I firmly believe in the importance of this. Surrounding ourselves with people who we respect and who motivate and inspire us will encourage us to grow, develop and find out what we ourselves want to achieve in our own remaining time on this planet. I will never be a singer.

I cannot speak more than a few words of Gaelic (as my efforts in the interview will testify). I can, however ,find aspects in my own life within dentistry, within other pursuits and within my personal life where I can channel my energy in same way as Alasdair has done and continues to do in his remarkable life. I am delighted for Alasdair that he has been awarded an MBE and offer him my most grateful congratulations.

In the next edition of DentaltownUK, I will talk about my recent interview with Dr Barry Glassman.

We are proud to have recently launched ‘The Dental News’, a short news bulletin that will be posted on our social media and YouTube channels. Each bulletin will be just a couple minutes long, keeping you up to date with some of the latest dental news. The newsreaders are Dr Lawrence Sharkey, a dentist who qualified in 2017; Rebecca Reid, who is due to start first-year dentistry after qualifying as a dental therapist; and professional actress Jade Lezar. Remember to link up with us on our social media platforms and sign up at dentaltownuk.com to ensure you get the latest news and magazines!

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Dr Alif Moosajee to DentaltownUK’s honorary editorial board. To find out more about him, please see his ‘Through the Keyhole’ and ‘Wish List’ from previous editions.

Finally, I’d like to thank Casiana Popa for the image used for the June DentaltownUK cover image. The article ‘Welcome to Prison’ in the June issue was written by Rhona Eskander, and this particular photograph was taken by Casiana, who has volunteered twice in Greek refugee camps. Her powerful photograph ‘represents the dangers that refugees go through to reach peace and safety’.

As you will see, in this issue Dental Aid Network share the story of their mission trip to Kashmir last October. I am humbled by the personal sacrifice and risk undertaken by fellow dentists who carry out such dental aid trips. DentaltownUK is proud to support such individuals, organisations and charities (there are many others also carrying out amazing work around the globe) by reporting on some of the work that they do.

If you’ve been involved in a similar project and want to share your experience, please email me: mike.gow@dentaltownuk.com.?