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As a general dentist, Dr. Danasagaran Athimoolam has a very impressive list of degree and diploma qualifications in dentistry, and added a qualification in Health and Social Welfare Management to his academic achievements in 1999. Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, he is widely travelled, and has a special interest in Health Management, Caries, Implantology and Orthodontics. He has received many accolades over the last 33 years in dentistry and was a champion of those that were disenfranchised in South Africa. No stranger to hardship and failure, he was determined to succeed, by perseverance during his student years and beyond.
He qualified in dentistry in 1990 from the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, and was honoured with an award for outstanding service to Youngsfield Military Base, Cape Town, in 1995, where he worked as Clinic Head. In 1996 he was appointed as the Chief Dentist of 22 towns in the Eastern Free State, South Africa, where his responsibility included amongst others, restructuring the Oral Health Service post-apartheid. In addition to managing oral health he delivered the service under trying conditions in more than half of the towns. He was commended for outstanding service to the Eastern Free State in 1995.
Dr. Danasagaran Athimoolam was appointed Head of Dental, at Jwaneng Private Hospital in Botswana in 1999, where he was given a special award for ensuring COHSASA,
(Council for Health Accreditation of Southern Africa) accreditation of the Dental Department, a first for Botswana in 2002. He established a dental publication called the Dental Mirror while working in Botswana to educate the local community, a first for the country.
A Principal for over 27 years with practices in South Africa and England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, he is highly experienced in providing both NHS(UK) and private treatment.
In addition to practising dentistry full time, he not only established dental practices, but also built up ailing practices, which were later sold, and continue to thrive in South Africa and the UK.
He established York Dental Care in 2004 in the northwest of England in a town called Clitheroe, and continued to expand into the Highlands of Scotland and the castle town of Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland.
His strong ethos to give back which was inculcated by his alma mater, led to all his innovations being not for gain, and donating a significant amount of equipment to establish the first dental clinic on the island of Zanzibar off the Tanzanian coast. In addition, he has helped several charities including adopting children in Guatemala and assisted a student financially to study in Australia.
His passion for addressing dental decay led to the development of his own dental material containing silver diamine fluoride in 2015 called Davnik Silver Knight to treat decay, and a dental game app called Rate of Decay, to teach children to care for their teeth in a fun way. He is in the process of having the dental game translated into different languages.
Now retired in Portugal, he volunteers his time to teach children at the local school how to care for their teeth. In addition to immersing himself in the Portuguese language and culture,
he is a keen traveller, oil and watercolour artist, and a keen lawn green bowler for over 30 years. He has played at club, county and national level, and now is in the process of assessing the feasibility of building a lawn green bowling club on the Silver Coast, Portugal. Another pleasant distraction of many.