Dental Board Members

Dr Simon Shanahan

Appointed as Chair and practitioner member (dentist) from Western Australia

Simon graduated as a dentist from the University of WA in 1984 and has practiced in private practice as a full-time general dentist in South Perth since 1993.

Simon has had a long history of regulatory involvement with the Dental Board of Australia at many levels since 2010. He has served in many roles and organisations throughout his career, both in Australia and overseas.

Simon has a continuing special interest in philanthropic dental initiatives.

Dr Penelope Burns

Appointed as a practitioner member (dentist) from New South Wales

Penny has a degree in Dentistry from the University of Sydney and is the principal of a Sydney-based private practice, where she has practised for 30 years.

Penny is in her second term with the Dental Board.

Prior to joining the Board, she had 20 years of experience in health professional regulation. This was mostly in various roles with the Dental Council of NSW including several years as deputy chair.

Penny also has experience on the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Professor Richard Logan

Appointed as a practitioner member (dental specialist) from South Australia

Throughout his career Richard has worked in general dental practice in both the private and public dental sectors as well as specialist practice. Richard is currently the Dean and Head of the Adelaide Dental School at the University of Adelaide. In addition to his academic role, he maintains his specialist practice as an Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologist at Clinpath Pathology, Adelaide.

Richard has been reappointed for a second term with the Dental Board of Australia. He is past Chair of the South Australian Registration and Notification and Immediate Action Committees. He currently chairs the Board’s Equivalence Assessment Panels for internationally qualified dental specialists. He is past president of the International Society of Oral Oncology, previous Chair of the Faculty of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and he is the current Chief Examiner in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology for the College. He has previously served as an examiner for the Australian Dental Council Examinations and Final Fellowship Examination for the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons.

Mr Tan Nguyen

Appointed as a practitioner member (oral health therapist) from Victoria

Tan is an oral health therapist with special interests in dental public health, community engagement, policy, advocacy and effective governance. Tan was appointed to the Dental Board of Australia in 2018 and is in his second term. He is currently carrying out his PhD studies at Deakin University in health economics, which was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship in 2020. Tan has postgraduate qualifications in public health and clinical education. His clinical practice experience is diverse in both the public and private sector, including holding a clinical educator role at the Melbourne Dental School.