Janet graduated from Edinburgh University in 1987. She worked in the hospital service in Edinburgh and Belfast before gaining her Fellowship in Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1991. She then completed her Orthodontic Specialist Training in Belfast, leading to her Membership in Orthodontics from the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1994. After working in Australia, she returned to work in Specialist Orthodontic Practice in Edinburgh in 1997.