Badri Teymourtash, the first female dentist inIran[1]Cartoon of assistant Lady-Dentist fromPunch. This shows prejudice against women in the dental profession.
There is a long history ofwomen in dentistry. Women are depicted as assistant dentists in the Middle Ages. Prior to the 19th century, dentistry was largely not yet a clearly defined and regulated profession with formal educational requirements. Individual female dentists are known from the 18th century. When the profession was regulated in the 19th century, it took a while before women achieved the formal education and permission to engage in dentistry.
16th century: In a 1523 copper engraving byLucas Van Leyden, an itinerant tooth drawer can be seen, with a woman standing behind the patient. While some interpreted the woman as a dental assistant, the person behind the patient is picking his pocket.[2]
In the 18th century dentistry was not yet a regulated and clearly defined profession, and could be performed by people of all professions, such as barbers and beauticians. The informality of the profession, where no formal education (unavailable to women) was not yet required, meant that women dentists did exist during the 18th century.
Early 18th century: A Mademoiselle De Reze published in 1719 a short treatise on elixirs for toothache entitled Dissertation Apologetique.[3] This was a few years before "Le Chirugien Dentiste" byPierre Fauchard in 1728.[4]
1740:Madeleine-Françoise Calais became the first female dentist to obtain a license as a master dentist from the Surgical Society of Paris.[5]
1755: A new law in France banned women from practicing any medical profession except midwifery.
1775: Hannah Crippen her services as a dentist and phlebotomist, continuing the business of her late husband, at Baldwins Gardens, Gray's Inn, London.
1777: A Mrs Levis or Lewis and her husband, advertised their services as dentists at Marylebone Street, Golden Square; Mrs Levis attended the women and Mr Levis, the men.[6]
1777: A Mrs De St Raymond advertised her services as a dentist, from her home, No. 9, Kings-square Court, Soho, to the nobility and gentry.[6]
1777: La Signora Foggioni of Genova advertises herself as a dentiste at No. 5, New George Street, Blackfriars Bridge, London.[6]
1782: Maria Briwolski of Dresden was granted permission from the authorities to practice dentistry in Sweden.[7]
1791: Catherine Madden of 53, St John's Street, West Smithfield, London, advertises her services as a dentist.[6]
1792: A Mrs Hunter, a beautician, advertised her services as a dentist from her home, No 78 Great Titchfield Street.[6]
In the 19th century dentistry gradually became a regulated and clearly defined profession, and formal education come to be required to practice it. This initially excluded women from dentistry; however formal education gradually became available to women in the 19th-century, resulting in the first formally educated female dentists.
c. 1814–1830: A Madame Ana made a successful career as a "dentist for women" in a clinic on the Rue Rivoli in Paris, being the dentist of the royalMarie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême.[9][10]
1852:Amalia Assur became the first female dentist in Sweden; she was given special permission from theRoyal Board of Health (Kongl. Sundhetskollegiets) to practice independently as a dentist, despite the fact that the profession was not legally opened to women in Sweden before 1861.[12]
1866:Rosalie Fougelberg received a royal dispensation from Swedish KingCharles XV and thus became the first woman in Sweden to officially practice dentistry since the profession had been legally opened to women in Sweden in 1861.[12]
1872:Petra Lie became the first female dentist in Norway.[18]
1872, March 4: Helen Vongl de Swiderska graduated as an advanced standing student from New York College of Dentistry, New York (Today NYU College of Dentistry). Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, she spent one year in the program to obtain her D.D.S. degree. She returned to Europe after graduation.[19]
1874: Fanny A. Rambarger became the second American woman to earn the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1874, when she graduated from thePennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. She worked in Philadelphia and limited her practice to women and children only.[14]
1881:Margaret Caro became the first woman to be listed on the Dentists' Register of New Zealand.[20]
1886: Margarita Chorné y Salazar became the first female dentist in Mexico.[12]
1904–1905:Faith Sai So Leong, also called Sai So Yeong, became the first Chinese-American woman to graduate from a school of dentistry and become a dentist in the United States.[28] In 1904 she became the first woman of any race to graduate from the College of Physicians and Surgeons (now theUniversity of the PacificArthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry).[29] In 1905 she was awarded theDoctor of Dental Surgery from that school,[30] and after a trial of the State Board of Dental Examiners, which delayed the awarding of licenses, she was granted a dental license in August 1905.[31]
1907: Frances Dorothy Gray became Australia's first female Bachelor of Dental Science graduate; she graduated from the Australian College of Dentistry,University of Melbourne, in 1907.[12]
1907: Mathilde Athenas was the first female dentist to graduate inRéunion.[32]
1909:Minnie Evangeline Jordon established the first dental practice in the United States devoted only to pediatric patients.[33]
1961: Etelvina González Martínez was the first woman to graduate from the School of Medicine of the Medical Sciences Campus of theUniversity of Puerto Rico.[45]
1975: On July 1, 1975,Jeanne Sinkford became the first female dean of an American dental school when she was appointed the dean ofHoward University, School of Dentistry.[15]
1977: The American Association of Dental Schools (founded in 1923 and renamed theAmerican Dental Education Association in 2000) had Nancy Goorey as its first female president in 1977.[52]
^R.M.G. Ortiz, M. Diaz de Kuri. Women in dentistry. J. Hist. Dent., 49 (2001), pp. 37-41
^Prasanna JS, Karunakar P, Sumadhura C, Aishwarya MD, Monica P, Sayed AS. Women dentists: Changing the face of dentistry. J Oral Res Rev 2015;7:69-73
^J. Sanz, "Polonia Sanz, la primera dentista española", en Actas del XXXIII Congreso Internacional de Historia de la Medicina, Sevilla, 1994, págs. 1191-1195
^White, J. D.; McQuillen, John Hugh; Ziegler, George Jacob; White, James William; Kirk, Edward Cameron; Anthony, Lovick Pierce (1905).The Dental cosmos - Google Books. Retrieved2012-08-04.
^Autio, Veli-Matti: Ståhlberg, Hedvig. Kansallisbiografia-verkkojulkaisu. Studia Biographica 4. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1997– (viitattu 10.4.2021)
^Inger Dübeck: Kvinders retlige stilling. I Den Store Danske. Hentet 7 October 2015.
^White, J. D.; McQuillen, John Hugh; Ziegler, George Jacob; White, James William; Kirk, Edward Cameron; Anthony, Lovick Pierce (1905-01-01).The Dental Cosmos. S. S. White Dental Manufacturing Company.
^Loevy, H. T.; Kowitz, A. A. (Spring 2006). "M. Evangeline Jordon, Pioneer in Pedodontics".Journal of the History of Dentistry.54 (1):3–8.PMID16764231.
^Norrman, Lena; Gross, Dominik (June 2023). "Escaping Nazi Germany: Jewish refugee dentists and their post-emigration careers in the United States of America".Endeavour.47 (1–2) 100861.doi:10.1016/j.endeavour.2023.100861.PMID37217359.
