NHS practice · Homerton University Hospital, London GMC 7014473 · GMC Specialist Register: Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery · FRCS (OMFS), Royal College of Surgeons of England

About & training

More than twenty years of training across medicine, dentistry, surgery and engineering.

Oral and maxillofacial surgery sits where medicine and dentistry meet, so UK surgeons in the specialty qualify in both. Will added a research doctorate and an international fellowship in facial deformity before taking up his consultant post.

Will Rodgers in theatre scrubs in an operating theatre

Subspecialty interests

Where Will focuses his practice

Orthognathic & facial contouring surgeryLead for orthognathic surgery at Homerton: corrective jaw surgery planned in 3D with a consultant orthodontist, plus genioplasty, jaw reduction and jaw augmentation. TMJ disorders & arthroscopyLead for TMJ surgery at Homerton: supported self-management and non-surgical care, arthrocentesis, and Level 1 to Level 3 TMJ arthroscopy. Sialendoscopy & salivary gland diseaseGland-preserving keyhole treatment for salivary stones, duct narrowing and recurrent swelling, and surgery for salivary lumps. Paediatric oral & maxillofacial surgeryLead for paediatric maxillofacial surgery at Homerton, shaped by training at Great Ormond Street Hospital and a fellowship at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne: facial differences, jaw growth problems, cysts, injuries and oral surgery in children. Dentoalveolar surgeryWisdom teeth (third molars), including coronectomy where the nerve is at risk, buried and impacted teeth, and complex extractions. Facial skin cancerMember of the skin cancer multidisciplinary team, with joint clinics alongside dermatology for excision and facial reconstruction.

Qualifications

Qualification What it means Awarded by Year
MD(Res) Research doctorate: a personalised 3D mandibular distraction device for craniofacial microsomia UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health 2021
FRCS (OMFS) Specialty fellowship examination in oral & maxillofacial surgery Royal College of Surgeons of England 2021
CCT Certificate of Completion of Training in oral & maxillofacial surgery General Medical Council 2021
BDS Bachelor of Dental Surgery (dental degree) King's College London 2014
AKC Associateship of King's College King's College London 2014
MRCS Membership examination for surgical training Royal College of Surgeons of England 2013
MBBS (Distinction) Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (medical degree) Guy's, King's & St Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College London 2008

Will is on the GMC Specialist Register for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (GMC 7014473) and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (membership no. 9027455).

Career

Training and appointments

Specialty training in oral and maxillofacial surgery was completed in London's major units, including national centres for craniofacial, cleft and trauma surgery. Will was awarded his Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in 2021.

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic he was redeployed to intensive care at the Royal London Hospital.

  1. 2023 – present Consultant Facial Surgeon (Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery)Homerton University Hospital, London – lead for orthognathic, TMJ and paediatric maxillofacial surgery (substantive consultant from 2025)
  2. 2022 – 2023 Maxillofacial Fellow, facial deformityRoyal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
  3. 2021 – 2022 Post-CCT senior traineeGreat Ormond Street Hospital and the Royal London Hospital
  4. 2016 – 2021 Specialist Trainee, North London DeaneryOral & maxillofacial surgery training at the Royal Free, Northwick Park, the Royal London, University College and Great Ormond Street hospitals, including a cleft fellowship and ITU redeployment during COVID-19
  5. 2016 Clinical Entrepreneur FellowNHS England
  6. 2013 – 2021 Research fellow, Face Value projectUCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
  7. 2011 – 2014 Fellow in plastic & craniofacial surgeryGreat Ormond Street Hospital, alongside the BDS degree
  8. 2008 – 2011 Foundation and early medical postsJersey General, Royal Bournemouth and Leicester Royal Infirmary; neurosurgical research, Wessex Neurological Centre
  9. 2002 – 2008 Medical school, King's College LondonFoundation in Natural Sciences (2002–2003), the entry year of the six-year medical programme, then MBBS with Distinction at Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine
International fellowship

Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

A year-long post-CCT fellowship in facial deformity with Professor Andrew Heggie and colleagues, using virtual surgical planning for orthognathic and TMJ surgery. Will was part of the team that performed Australia's first paediatric TMJ replacement, and he presented virtually planned osteotomies at the International Conference on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Vancouver (2023).

Service development

Homerton University Hospital

Will is the department's lead for orthognathic, TMJ and paediatric maxillofacial surgery. He established the hospital's TMJ arthroscopy service, which offers Level 1 to Level 3 arthroscopy alongside non-surgical care, and is building a new orthognathic service with a consultant orthodontist, including genioplasty and jaw contouring. He also offers sialendoscopy for salivary gland disease and is a member of the skin cancer MDT, running joint clinics with dermatology. His recent audits cover CBCT imaging justification and MRI selection for TMJ problems – making sure scans are used only when they help.

Global health

From surgical missions to World Health Organization guidance

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Helping shape the WHO's response to noma

Noma is a fast-spreading gangrenous infection of the mouth and face that mainly affects young children living in extreme poverty. Most children who develop it die without treatment, and survivors are left with severe facial disfigurement. In December 2023 the WHO added noma to its official list of neglected tropical diseases.

Will's work on noma began on reconstructive missions in Ethiopia and went on to inform WHO prevention and treatment resources for Africa.

  1. 2012Invited delegate and speaker, WHO meeting on oral disease and nomaDar es Salaam, Tanzania – represented the charity Facing Africa and Ethiopia, presenting primary care and surgical management of noma
  2. 2012WHO reference manual on oral disease, including nomaMember of the team producing best-practice guidance on prevention and management
  3. 2016Information brochure for early detection and management of nomaContributing author, World Health Organization
  4. 2017Promoting Oral Health in AfricaContributing author – prevention and control of oral diseases and noma as part of essential noncommunicable disease interventions, WHO
Ethiopia · Facing AfricaMember of facial reconstructive teams in 2011 and 2012 treating survivors of noma, and teaching peri-operative care to Ethiopian nurses.
Philippines · PAGESCleft surgery missions in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Noma researchPublished work describing noma in Ethiopia, a systematic review of reconstructive outcomes (BMJ Open, 2021) and a textbook chapter on managing jaw stiffness after noma (Springer, 2023). See publications

Teaching

  • GMC-recognised Educational Supervisor for dental core trainees and specialty trainees, Homerton
  • Author of surgical simulations for the Touch Surgery app (neck dissection, parotid surgery, pectoralis major flap)
  • Faculty, Royal College of General Practitioners Minor Surgery Course
  • Undergraduate teaching at the UMAX conference, Royal Society of Medicine, and OSCE examiner
  • Train the Trainers (2025) and Management & Leadership Skills (2021) certification

Prizes

  • Warren Birnbaum Prize, King's College London
  • Tom Pitt-Ford Prize, King's College London
  • Koray Feran Prize, King's College London
  • Greenspan Award for Research, King's College London

Selected specialist courses

Nexus TMJ Arthroscopy Course TMJ disorders – Royal London TMJ workshop – Melbourne Congenital & developmental facial deformity (SORG) – Florida Microsurgery – Ganga Hospital, India Dental implants – Malmö Orthognathic surgery – RSM Orbital surgery – RSM AOCMF principles of fixation Dermoscopy Laser safety ATLS & CCrISP Quality improvement & patient safety – ICH

Outside work

Will is a keen follower of astronautics and space exploration. He speaks Italian and has a long-standing love of Italy, where he practises Venetian rowing (voga alla veneta). He also enjoys motorbiking and travel.

Astronautics Speaks Italian Venetian rowing Motorbiking Travel