Women dentists: the origins

Abstract

The pioneer women in dentistry are worthy of recognition and admiration. They broke the traditional barriers for their sex and set the standards for those who followed in their path as dental professionals. As medicine has its Elizabeth Blackwell, nursing its Florence Nightingale, so dentistry has its Lucy Taylor Hobbs and Henriette Hirschfeld. In 1884, Lucy Hobbs wrote: "People were amazed when they learned that a young girl had so far forgotten her womanhood as to want to study dentistry." Today, women represent almost 50 percent of the dental students in some dental schools. It is projected that by the year 2020, 20 percent of all dental practitioners in the United States will be women. This article details a timeline of women's place in dental history by highlighting prominent women dentists and various opinions on women in dentistry.