David Morris was head of the department of orthodontics at Leeds Dental Institute. He was born in New York on 20 July 1963, the oldest son of Norman and Jean Morris: his two younger brothers were Richard and Bryn. The family was brought up in Queens, before moving to his father’s native north Wales when David was 12. David wanted to be a dentist from an early age: having received orthodontic treatment from Richard Parkhouse, his interest in the specialty was ignited. He studied dentistry at Birmingham Dental School and gained his BDS in 1985. He stayed in Birmingham until 1988, completing his year of vocational training and working in practice and in the oral surgery department of the Birmingham Dental Hospital. He was then a resident senior house officer in the oral and maxillofacial surgery and orthodontic departments at Princess Maragret Hospital, Swindon until 1990. He subsequently completed a two-year post as a registrar in the oral and maxillofacial surgery unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. In 1992, he began a registrar post in orthodontics at the Royal London and Whipps Cross hospitals, training with James Percy (‘Jim’) Moss, Robert Lee, David Di Biase and Simon Ash. He then moved on to Yorkshire in 1995 to complete his three-year senior registrar orthodontic training. He received funding from British Orthodontic Society as well as a grant from the Cleft Lip and Palate Association to support his cleft research project. He visited Oslo, where his research was supported by Gunvor Semb. In 1998 he became a consultant orthodontist in Leeds, at Seacroft Hospital and Leeds Dental Institute. Here he held many roles, including head of department, training programme director, educational supervisor and a trust-wide appraiser. David was always a precise clinician with a real attention to detail and this led him to being one of the first British orthodontists to pass the European Board of Orthodontics exam in 2012. He was also active as an examiner; he examined for the ISFE (the intercollegiate specialty fellowship exam) for many years, as well as for masters degrees in orthodontics (University of Leeds). He was also skilled at committee work. He was chairman of the British Orthodontic Society’s clinical standards committee and more recently had been elected to the board of the faculty of dental surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. A keen teacher and lecturer, he was also working on a textbook for senior trainees. David had a strong work ethic and was dedicated to his career in orthodontics, but he also had a sharp sense of humour. He was a loyal consultant colleague who was loved and admired by many trainees over the years. David had met his first wife Sarah when they were both working at Princess Margaret Hospital in Swindon. They had a daughter Kate in 1996, closely followed by their son Elliott in 1998. He married for a second time in 2018, to Alison, with whom he enjoyed travelling. David sadly died on 14 October 2024 at the age of 61 after a two-year battle with cancer, which he bravely fought. He was survived by his two children, Elliot and Kate, and his wife, Alison, who made his life very happy in his last years.