figure a

Anna-Lena Hallonsten passed away on December 13, 2020, at the age of 77. The Swedish and International community of paediatric dentists has lost one of its dearest and prominent colleagues.

Anna-Lena grew up in a small village, close to the sea in the very south of Sweden. There, she developed the love for nature and local culture that she kept her whole life.

In 1967, she graduated from the Royal Dental School in Malmö, Sweden and a few years later, she completed her specialist training at the Eastman Dental Hospital, Rochester, NY. At her return to Sweden in 1974, she was appointed Senior Consultant at the Department of Paediatric Dentistry, The Institute for Postgraduate Dental Education in Jönköping. During her years in the USA, Anna-Lena had used N2O/O2 inhalation sedation in dental treatment, which at that time was not possible in Sweden. In Jönköping, she gathered a group of dental and medical colleagues, who, after intense work, succeeded in giving Swedish dentists permission to use this sedation method. Today, several thousand dentists have been educated in the technique, in benefit of their patients. She presented her research about dental use of N2O/O2 inhalation sedation in her thesis in 1982. Anna-Lena was an excellent clinician, lecturer and researcher and a role model for young colleagues. One of her main interests was dental health care for children with disabilities and in line with her aim to include all children, Anna-Lena very early initiated collaboration with child psychiatry for consultations and knowledge development.

Anna-Lena contributed extensively to international paediatric dentistry. When the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry was established in 1990, she was from the beginning an active member. She was involved in EAPD Guidelines on MIH and Conscious sedation and received Honorary EAPD Membership when she retired. She was president of the International Association for Disability and Oral Health in 1984–1987 and held the same position in the International Association of Paediatric Dentistry in 1995–1997.

Although Anna-Lena devoted most of her time to her work, she always found the time for her many friends. Every year, she invited all staff and residents to a festive dinner in celebration of St. Martin’s Day, an old tradition from the south of Sweden. She cooked everything herself: black soup, oven-roasted goose, and pyramid cake with frozen pears. The goose and pears came from her parents’ farm. To be at that dinner was an honour and is a forever-sweet memory.

In 1996, Anna-Lena married Odont dr hc Jens O Andreasen and moved to Denmark. She was Chief Dental Officer in Copenhagen Child Dental Health Care, a position she held until her retirement. During the years to follow, she often accompanied her husband Jens on his lectures all over the world.

Anna-Lena’s never-ending energy and her deep engagement in every child’s right to optimal dental health care, has influenced the development of the clinical as well as the scientific aspects of paediatric dentistry. Her many friends around the world now feel loss and grief. She is greatly missed.


Göran Koch, Johanna Norderyd