Liana Zoitopoulos, head of community dental services at King’s Dental Institute, London helped establish the specialty of special care dentistry in the UK. She was born in Athens, where her father was a thoracic surgeon. She studied dentistry at Liverpool University, graduating with a bachelor of dental surgery degree in 1980. After qualifying, she began a career in the community dental service, initially as a trainee in Cheshire and then as a dental officer in Halton. In 1985 she became an assistant district dental officer for Halton. During this period, she completed a masters degree in community dental health at the University of Birmingham. In 1992 she moved to King’s Dental Institute as head of the community dental service. At King’s she developed an integrated service for patients with special needs. She was appointed as a consultant in 2002 and was awarded a PhD in 2004 for a thesis on differences in dental health among multiethnic communities in south London. In 2005 she became an honorary senior lecturer at King’s. She introduced special care dentistry to the undergraduate dental curriculum at King’s and established community outreach placements for dental therapy students. She also had a keen interest in postgraduate dental education and set up training posts within her department, including one of first registrar training posts in special care dentistry. She helped establish the National Association of Prison Dentistry UK and served as the inaugural president. She was a member of several influential committees and working groups, including the British Dental Association’s central committee for community and public health dentistry, the inspections and recognition committee of the dental faculties and the Department of Health’s valuing people’s oral health working party. She was a member of the council of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry. She served as secretary from 2006 to 2009 and was elected president shortly before she was diagnosed with cancer. She delivered her inaugural address only days before her death. She was a fellow of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. She was entered on the British Dental Association’s Roll of Distinction shortly before she died. In 1976 she married John Coakley. They had two sons, Alexander and Philip. Zoitopoulos died from cancer in 2010. She was 54.