Martyn Cobourne graduated in Dental Surgery from King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1990. After a series of junior hospital appointments in Bristol and London he undertook specialty training in orthodontics at the King's College London Dental Institute, obtaining his Membership in Orthodontics in 1997. This was followed by the award of a Clinical Training Fellowship from the UK Medical Research Council in 1998, and a PhD in developmental biology investigating the molecular basis of tooth development at Guy's Dental Hospital. Martyn was appointed as a Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Orthodontics at King's College London Dental Institute in 2004 and promoted to Professor of Orthodontics in 2011. His basic science research has focused on the role of molecular signaling pathways during early development of the head and face; and his clinical research on the effectiveness of contemporary orthodontic treatment interventions, which has included a number of randomized clinical trials investigating treatment efficiency. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, including outputs in some of the world's highest-impact biomedical journals. He is the author of two successful orthodontic textbooks including the Handbook of Orthodontics (now in its third edition) and has edited a volume on the management of cleft lip and palate. He was Director of Research at the British Orthodontic Society from 2012-16, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Orthodontics from 2012-22 (earning the journal its first impact factor) and is an elected member of the Board of Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

He is also Editor of the companion book in this series: orthodontic Management of the Developing Dentition.