Alan Atkinson who has died aged 83 was the first secretary of the International Standards Organisation (ISO) Technical Committee 106 – Dentistry when it was formed in 1962. He is the only dentist who has held this office. He was employed by the British Standards Institution (BSI) to deal exclusively with dental standards and had been appointed there in 1961. He went on to lead the United Kingdom Delegation to ISO TC 106 for several years and made other contributions to dentistry over many years.

Alan Atkinson qualified from Guy's Hospital Dental School in 1955 and served in the Royal Air Force. He went from the RAF into general practice in Croydon, Surrey, and from there to BSI. He worked for BSI for 16 years being responsible for the secretarial support for the seven dental standards technical committees and for the publication of BSI standards in dentistry.

In 1977 he moved into the dental industry by becoming the clinical adviser to AD International at its head office in Broadwick Street, London. Whilst in this post he continued working in dental standards, now as a technical expert in dental terminology. He pursued research into dental burs at Birmingham Dental School and was awarded his PhD in 1981.

The takeover of AD International by Dentsply led to many changes in the UK dental industry and the potential loss of funding for UK researchers. Alan was instrumental in helping develop contacts between the US and UK academics. Eventually the UK operation was reduced considerably and after a short time with Johnson Mathey, Alan became a Senior Dental Officer at the Department of Health with responsibility for the Dental Reference Service (DRS).

The DRS was relocated to be part of the Dental Practice Board at Eastbourne and Alan's diplomatic skills were heavily used in building a good working relationship with the Chairman of the DPB. Alan headed the DRS for 13 years and retired in 2002.

Alan continued to attend dental meetings in retirement and keep in contact with friends in the profession. He developed multiple myeloma in 2009 and there was a slow deterioration in his health over the next eight years until his death.

He leaves a widow, Pamela, his wife of 55 years, a son, David and daughter, Elizabeth and one grandchild.