Let’s be honest…women have always formed the true backbone of society. WAIT – before you start forming your counter-argument, go with us here for a minute. Certainly, men have forged many trails in business, government, professional pursuits, and even the arts and fashion. But – and this is a BIG caveat – whether innovation, evolution or exploration, women have always been there as in some role, usually as support staff, helpmates or partners, to provide the physical, mental and emotional “infrastructure” upon which all of these advances could be made!
For titans of business, women either performed those “menial” administrative tasks or maintained a stable home designed to cater to the head of the household’s schedule, needs and desires, while also being able to professionally entertain colleagues, clients or advantageous contacts…at a moment’s notice! The same holds true in more agrarian times and areas. Women worked right alongside their mates to keep their farm or ranch business afloat, ALONG with keeping their family and home life on-track.
So, let’s move on to the sciences; c’mon, you had to know this was coming! While we hear about women like Marie Curie – and a handful of others, almost exclusively during #WomensHistoryMonth – the evolution of their place in MANY professional and scientific fields largely goes unnoticed, or is simply not taught. With that in mind, March seemed like a good time to provide an EXTREMELY brief overview of the role women have – and currently DO – play in the Dental profession.
Thanks to the website History Of Dentistry, that outlines how women held a lower status in dentistry, and even forbidden to attend dentistry colleges or to practice dentistry. As they show in this thumbnail timeline:
“In 1852 Amalia Assur became the first female dentist in Sweden. Royal Board of Health (Kongl. Sundhetskollegiets) gave her a special permission to practice independently as a dentist because dentistry was not legally opened to women in Sweden at the time.
Emeline Roberts Jones became the first woman to practice dentistry in the United States in 1855.
In 1861 Sweden made a law which allowed women to practice dentistry. First woman to work as a dentist after this law was introduced was Rosalie Fougelberg who became a dentist in 1866.
That same year (1866) Lucy Hobbs Taylor became the first woman to graduate from a dental college. She graduated from the Ohio Dental College.
The first woman to take a full college course in dentistry graduated in 1869. Her name was Henriette Hirschfeld-Tiburtius.
In 1874, Fanny A. Rambarger became the second American woman to earn the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. Her place of work was Philadelphia and she treated women and children only.
Mexico got its first female dentist in 1886. Her name was Margarita Chorné y Salazar.
The first African-American woman to earn a dental degree in the United States was Ida Gray Rollins. She earned it in 1890.
In 1892 The Women's Dental Association of the U.S. was founded.
In 1895 Lilian Lindsay became the first licensed female dentist in Britain.
Emma Gaudreau Casgrain became the first Canada‘s licensed female dentist in 1898.
M. Evangeline Jordan graduated in 1898. She was one of the first to limit her practice to children and was a founder of pedodontics.
In 1920, Maude Tanner became the first recorded female delegate to the American Dental Association.
Lilian Lindsay became the first female president of the British Dental Association in 1946.
Helen E. Myers was commissioned as the first female dental officer of the U.S. Army Dental Corps’ in 1951.
In 1991, the American Dental Association got its first female president. It was Geraldine Morrow.
American National Dental Association got its own in 1997. Her name was Hazel J. Harper.
In 2001 Marjorie Jeffcoat was appointed as an editor of The Journal of the American Dental Association. She was the first female editor that this journal had.
Rear Admiral Carol I. Turner became the first female Chief of the U.S. Navy Dental Corps in 2003.
In 2005, Michele Aerden became the first female president of the FDI World Dental Federation.
The first female president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry became Beverly Largent, a pediatric dentist in 2008.
The first female president of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology became Valerie Murrah on the same year.
Academy of General Dentistry got its first female president in 2008 again and it was Paula Jones.
Elected as the first female president of the Canadian Dental Association in 2008 was Deborah Stymiest.
The first female executive director of the American Dental Association became Kathleen T. O'Loughlin in 2009.”
This certainly gives a whole new meaning to that now “culturally incorrect” appropriated advertising slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby!” But these days, DOCTOR is a much more accurate identifier in the dental profession! So, certain stats may still come as quite a shock…as the website Dental Post details:
“While the dental field is (and has always BEEN) predominantly female – approximately 95% of all dental hygienists and dental assistants are women – women are increasingly taking on leadership roles that were previously male-dominated in dentistry. In fact, 60% of all practicing dentists under 44 are women.”
From humble beginnings as receptionists in those early dental offices, to “lab techs” washing instruments and cleaning up treatment rooms, to full-fledged chairside assistants as RDAs and RDH professionals, to now serving not only as lead dentists – in EVERY dental specialty – but also practice owners and accomplished entrepreneurs, we heartily salute these women! And we encourage you to learn more about these early oral health pioneers…and, who knows, more in-depth stories about them just MAY appear in a future WellDent Compliance blog!