David DiBiase was a consultant orthodontist at St Bartholomew’s and London hospitals and a former president of the British Orthodontic Society. He was born on 1 May 1935 in Kingston, Surrey, the son of Merlino DiBiase, a hairdresser, and Nora DiBiase née Rouse. He attended Tiffin Boys’ School and went on to study dentistry at King’s College London. He qualified in 1959. After serving in the RAF for two years from 1961 to 1963, he obtained his diploma in orthodontics and the fellowship of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1965. He was a senior registrar at the London and Whipps Cross hospitals, during which time he was awarded the prestigious Chapman Prize for his essay on variations in morphology and their effect on incisor eruption. In 1971 he was appointed as a consultant orthodontist for Southend Hospital, leaving in 1989 to join the teaching staff at St Bartholomew’s and London hospitals. He published and lectured widely on orthodontics, as well as developing new approaches, including the Southend clasp, used for retention on incisor teeth. His particular interest was in dentofacial orthopaedics for cleft neonates. He played a significant role in the unification of the orthodontic societies to form the British Orthodontic Society. He was chair of the first British Orthodontic Conference Committee (in 1983) and of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics (from 1988 to 1990), and co-chair of the unification working party (from 1990 to 1993). He became the first chair of the newly formed British Orthodontic Society in 1994, a post he held until 1997, and was president in 2000. He was awarded the Clifford Ballard Medal for outstanding service to orthodontics and was made a life member of the British Orthodontic Society in 2001. He was elected to the General Dental Council in June 1996. Outside his professional life, he enjoyed art and rugby. He was married to Moyra (née Gillfillan). They had three children: Judy, Andrew and James. DiBiase died at home in Danbury on 30 June 2001 from prostate cancer. He was 66.