Dr Cawte qualified from the University of Edinburgh in 1988. After graduating he was commissioned into the Royal Army Dental Corps and served in the UK and overseas. Seven years later, on completion of his commission, he graduated with an MSc in Conservative Dentistry from the University of Manchester and spent several years working in both private and NHS practices and at the Turner Dental School in Manchester.

He then became a resident SHO in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery with East Lancashire Maxillofacial Service and after two and a half years in this post he accepted the position of Staff Grade in Restorative Dentistry and Oral Surgery at the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital in Sheffield.

On completion of a three year full-time monospecialty training programme (endodontics) at the Eastman Dental Instiitute in London he began work at several practices in London and he also teaches at the University of Central Lancashire.

He is registered as a Specialist in Endodontics with the General Dental Council and is a council member and honorary treasurer of the British Endodontic Society.