Roscrea Dentist wins Colgate Caring Dentist of the Year award

A Roscrea Dentist has been honoured for her work in 'Transformative Care and Compassion' and recognised for outstanding work.

Dr Sarah Rymer of Expressions Dental Clinic on Main Street in Roscrea has been named the 2024 Munster winner of the Colgate Caring Dentist of the Year Award, and was recognised for her outstanding care and the life-changing impact she had on a couple from Nenagh.

Dr Sarah Rymer is originally a Delaney of Roscrea who was educated locally. She achieved highly and initially studied in Dublin and then began undergraduate study in Cardiff University in what is regarded as one of the leading dental universities in the UK.

The patient from Nenagh, who was traumatised by her childhood experiences with a dentist, was instead met with what was described as “patience, compassion, and exceptional care” in Roscrea.

Dr Rymer’s patient noted, “I was expecting the horrors of my youth, but Dr Rymer was simply amazing. By the next day, I didn’t even need pain relief.”

Dr Rymer has been named the 2024 Munster winner of the Colgate Caring Dentist of the Year Award and the patient, a woman in her 60s, arrived at Dr Rymer's practice in severe pain from a wisdom tooth and deeply traumatised by her childhood experience.

After a painless tooth extraction, the patient’s life began to change.

This positive experience encouraged the patient’s husband, who had avoided dental care for over 40 years, to seek treatment.

He received upper dentures and lower teeth treatments, transforming not only his oral health but also his confidence.

The patient praised Dr Rymer for her kindness and skill, noting: “Dr Rymer’s care didn’t just end my pain – it changed our lives.”

For her exceptional ability to provide comfort and rebuild trust in dentistry, Dr Rymer serves as a shining example of the profession's profound impact on patients’ lives, the Colgate company said.

Roscrea Return

After studying in Cardiff, Dr Rymer was employed in a general practice in Upper Tumble, a South West Wales village, in mixed private and NHS practice in a new clinic.

Her time in Wales exposed her to a variety of restorative, prosthodontic, prosthetic and surgical experience prior to returning to her hometown in Ireland.

In 2009 she moved back to Ireland and settled in Nenagh, only a few minutes drive from the family home she had grown up in.

She had always intended to return to the community she was raised in.

At this point she worked in private practice in Nenagh, furthering her knowledge of restorative and cosmetic dentistry, paediatric dentistry, endodontics and surgery.

Dr Rymer is also experienced in the world of facial aesthetics and with the advanced functional knowledge dentists have of the facial anatomy, they are uniquely positioned to offer a confident and experienced hand in this emerging area of cosmetics.

In 2018 Dr Rymer opened a surgery in Roscrea, her hometown.

"When we started researching the base for our own practice, there were so many places that were crying out for a dental surgery, but I always wanted to come home."