Twenty years of dentistry, one Newry practice.
Appletree Dental Care has looked after Newry families since 2006. Two decades on, the same two principal dentists who opened the doors — Dr Conor McEnhill and Dr Katrina McKevitt — are both still here, seeing patients. The continuity is unusual. We think it matters.
The founders’ story
Conor qualified from Queen’s University Belfast in 1993 and went on to a Royal College of Surgeons Fellowship after three years of oral and maxillofacial training. Katrina graduated from the same university in 1994 with First Class Honours. They brought together two complementary specialties — Conor’s surgical and implant focus, Katrina’s restorative and aesthetic work — and built a practice around the principle that good dentistry is a long conversation, not a one-off transaction.
They had known each other since they were eighteen, from college, and by the time Appletree opened each had around fifteen years behind them — Katrina in general practice, Conor in implant surgery. The building on Kilmorey Street was Katrina’s find: she spotted it on the school run, just as it came free. They rented it first and bought it a few years later. It has suited the practice ever since — modern, easy to keep, everything on the ground floor for step-free access, and parking at the door.
What makes Appletree different
Continuity of care
Twenty years in, you’ll often be seen by the same dentist you saw five years ago — and ten years before that. Many of our patients have been with us since the practice opened. That continuity means we know your history, your habits, your concerns — and we can spot small changes long before they become problems.
Specialist-level expertise, in-house
We’re a general practice, but we’re not generic. Conor is one of few clinicians in Ireland using socket shield implant techniques; he’s an ADI mentor and a Royal College of Surgeons Fellow. Dr Brian Vaughan holds a Master’s in Endodontics with distinction from King’s College London — and supervises the same Master’s programme. Zara McKibbin is Best Dental Care Professional in NI (2014). Our hygiene treatments include Airflow. Our cosmetic work includes Bioclear. This isn’t a typical small-town practice.
Honest conversations about treatment
We won’t sell you treatment you don’t need, and we won’t talk you out of treatment that would help. We give you clear options, clear costs, and the time to think about them.
A practice that picks up the phone
We don’t use an online booking system — not because we couldn’t, but because the conversation with reception is part of the care. If you’re anxious, if your case is complicated, if you need to be triaged on the day — that’s a human conversation, not a calendar slot. The number is 028 3025 2228.
Cross-border friendly
Newry sits where two healthcare systems meet. We treat patients from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland routinely — and we accept payment in Euros at the daily bank rate for our cross-border patients.
Recognition and awards
- Northern Ireland Healthcare Awards 2016 — Overall Dental Practice of the Year
- UK Smile Awards — Best Single Implant (Dr Conor McEnhill)
- UK Aesthetic Dentistry Awards 2016 — finalist, Single Crown and Patient Choice (Dr Joanne Redpath)
- The Dentistry Awards 2011 — finalist, Best Young Dentist NI (Dr Joanne Redpath)
- Irish Dentistry Awards 2014 — Best Dental Care Professional in NI (Zara McKibbin)
- NI Healthcare Awards 2017 — Highly Commended, Dental Hygienist/Therapist of the Year (Zara McKibbin)
- Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh — Dental Faculty Fellowship (Dr Conor McEnhill)
- Royal College of Surgeons London — Advanced Implant Dentistry Diploma (Dr Conor McEnhill)
Meet the team
Meet the full Appletree team →
The practice
Appletree Dental Care is at 1 The Old Gasworks, Kilmorey Street, Newry, BT34 2DH — purpose-converted, comfortable, and surprisingly different from the clinical-corporate spaces dentistry has drifted towards. Find Us →
20 years of Appletree
A milestone we’re proud of
Twenty years is a long time in any business. In dentistry — in a town the size of Newry — it means something more specific: the families who came to us in 2006 are still coming, and in a good many cases their children are now patients in their own right.
Katrina McKevitt, who opened the practice with Conor and led it for two decades, puts the credit with the people rather than the plan: “The right time and the right place — but as with everything, it’s the right people that make it.” A lot of the team have been at Appletree for ten or fifteen years, and many of the dental nurses trained here have gone on to other practices with what they learned.
Built on word of mouth
Appletree advertised in its first year and, as far as anyone can remember, never again. Everything since has come from patients telling other people — locally, and from across the border, which has been roughly half the practice’s work since the beginning. It is the part of the twenty years the team is quietly proudest of.
The next twenty
There has been one change at the top. Conor McEnhill has taken on the practice as sole owner, with Katrina continuing to see her own patients for restorative and Bioclear work. The day to day is unchanged: the same clinicians, the same team answering the phone, the same approach to treatment.
Saying thank you
The most important part of the twentieth anniversary is the patients. Some of you have been with us since the first year. Some came because a neighbour or a sister or someone at work told you to. Either way, none of this exists without you.
Thank you.