The Feminization of Dentistry

I felt somewhat vindicated reading the recent article¹ on the feminization of dentistry. As a member of CDA's Board of Directors, I attended an interactive session in Ottawa about 5 years ago regarding workforce balance in Canadian dentistry. At that time my daughter was in dental school and I suggested to the session facilitator that because more female dentists were graduating, the profession would have to graduate even more dentists.

My rationale (and as the JCDA article clearly shows) was that female dentists work fewer hours, days and years than their male counterparts. My suggestion was simply a demographic one and was not intended to be gender biased. However, the facilitator berated me for my comments, saying that they were sexist. I hope that she reads this letter and even sends a reply!

I am a dentist in a 4-dentist office that has 2 phenomenal female dentists. I am certainly not the only dentist who has observed this situation. But the whole scenario demonstrates that if you speak the truth (especially in Ottawa), political correctness can sometimes override fact. I commend the authors of the article for their thoughtful and courageous stance and hope they are never ridiculed for stating facts.

Cite this as: J Can Dent Assoc 2010;76:C34

I am writing to say how much I enjoyed the JCDA article¹ on women in dentistry. Of course my daughter Maureen comes to mind, but also my 1973 graduating class at the University of Toronto. Although the previous year had only a single female dentist, we had 9 "wonder women" in our class—all of whom went on to full-time practice, with 2 entering the speciality field. Looking back, they were the true pioneers and role models for this generation of female dental students. Well done ladies!