Meet Our Team

Simon Leith completed his Dental Degree at Otago University in 2003, then spent two years at Hutt Valley Hospital helping specialists treating complex cases.

He learned a variety of extra skills in oral surgery, prosthetic rehabilitation and treating medically compromised patients.

He then joined a large private practice in Wellington City where he worked for 2 years. He gained extra skills in IV conscious sedation to help anxious patients have dental treatment.

Simon is following his passion in providing Orthodontic Treatment and completed his Cosmetic Orthodontic training with two of America’s foremost cosmetic orthodontic dentists.

He provides orthodontic assessments from age 8, and will provide early treatment to prevent some more serious problems developing. He treats all ages with clear and metal braces and has been using short term orthodontic systems, known as 6 Month Smiles, for 6 years.

He has also completed a two year mini-residency in Sydney under orthodontist Derek Mahony where he undertook over 700 hours of training. Patients are informed verbally and in writing that he is a dentist with training in orthodontics and continues to work with specialist orthodontists for complex cases.

Moreover, Simon also handles dental implant procedures at the practice.

Simon and his family moved to Kerikeri in 2008 to enjoy the winterless north and a more relaxed lifestyle.

The Lead Dentist at KDC, Simon is always striving to provide patients with a memorable comfortable experience, knowledgeable advice and expert dental care. An ongoing commitment to continuing education and the many hours he invests in advanced training ensures that his patients receive the best possible and most evidence based treatment available.

He would also like to continue on next year with another two years to complete an MClinDent in Ortho. Simon has been instrumental in bringing new technologies to the practise – Cerec technology – where we can repair and restore your tooth with the best tooth coloured material in one visit.

Lloyd graduated from University of Edinburgh, Scotland with his BDS in 1985. He is committed to helping nervous clients feel relaxed about their treatment and having a great rapport with clients and team members. He likes becoming adept in new techniques, especially in the realm of cosmetic work. Lloyd is interested in minimally-invasive cosmetic dentistry, mercury-free dentistry, cosmetic solutions for restorative dentistry, effective long-term prevention of dental disease and treatment of the anxious and phobic client and creating a relaxed working environment.

To further his studies Lloyd attends courses every year on new innovations in dentistry. He is a member of the NZIMID (New Zealand Institute for Minimal-Intervention Dentistry) and is also working with his colleague, Richard Owen, on their patent for the use of Ozone gas in dental disease prevention.

When Lloyd is not busy in the practice he enjoys writing and has just completed his first book (about his wife and himself migrating to NZ) that has been published on Kindle! Lloyd loves travelling, photography, cooking, eating and is currently pretending to be a runner, training for a half-marathon. Lloyd is also a part-time farmer, keeping Alpacas.

Over the years Lloyd has had many achievements such as winner of 3M's "Innovations in Dentistry" award in 1995, twice runner-up "Probe Magazine" dentist of the year in the UK (1997 and 1999) and a while back he wrote an article on "The Art and Science of Distraction at the Dentists":
http://www.dentalfearcentral.org/help/psychology/distraction/

After graduating with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from the University of Otago, Dan worked in a busy private practice in Whakatane. During his time in the Bay of Plenty he had to become skilled in the full range of dental procedures.

Throughout this period, Dan gained a deep appreciation for the diverse cultural and social backgrounds of patients and the need to treat people with empathy and gentle care, while maintaining a relaxed manner.

Since then Dan has worked in several practices in Dunedin, Timaru and Geraldine before working for two months at Kerikeri Dental Centre. He enjoyed his time here so much, that he decided to make the move north permanent with his family including two young children.

He has a prior degree in Pharmacology and Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health. This combination of study alongside his work experience enables Dan to bring a deep perspective to his clinical care, and he strives to ensure clear communication with his patients.

Dan has a special interest in enhancing the return to a functioning bite, especially crown and bridge work as well as surgical extractions including wisdom teeth.

Dr Michael Ramsay graduated from the University of Otago with a BSD. He enjoys all forms of dentistry but gets a lot of satisfaction from endodontics and removable prosthodontics. He is hoping to do further studies in sedation, clear aligners, more advanced endodontics and more complex oral surgery.

Michael aims to deliver ethical, gentle and friendly dental care of a high standard - to consider an individual’s treatment needs, meet and exceed expectations and achieve long-term dental health and stability.

“I love my job the most when a person comes to the end of their treatment and feels confident, comfortable and happy with their oral health. Helping one to achieve their dental goals makes for a happy patient, happy assistant, and happy dentist. I also love converting people’s fear of going to the dentist to a love of going to the dentist!”

You might be interested to know that aside from dentistry Michael can also play the bagpipes!

Registered Orthodontic Auxiliary Shannon is new to Kerikeri and is looking forward to working with children to improve their oral health, in particular to help them feel better about themselves and grow in confidence as their teeth improve.

Shannon has a passion for helping children and her main goal is to help others achieve their dream smile.

She enjoys the diversity of her job and seeing the transformation in her patients.

Shannon says she loves seeing people happy at the end of their treatment. “I love how they grow in confidence, sit up straighter, talk with more confidence, hands go away from the face and they become more outgoing and genuinely happier,” she says.

Outside of the practice, Shannon enjoys spending time with her family. She hopes the Far North will bring new family experiences and lots more fun!