With International Women’s Day coming up, I thought about how being a woman has affected my career in dentistry. Dentistry is a great profession for females … and it’s not.
It’s great because you can reduce hours while raising children, however, it’s not great because private practice dentists don’t get maternity benefits. It’s great that most dental graduates are female, and it’s not great that the most dental leaders are not female. It’s great that there are more dental practices owned by women, but it’s not great that female dentists make less money than male dentists. What does is take for females to become as successful as males in dentistry?
To answer that question, I thought about what it has taken for me to start my own practice and to become a dental leader. What it took was for my kids to grow up. What is took was to see other female dentists succeed and push me to do the same. What it took was for men to share their power with me. What it took was for me to believe in myself, to say “I kind do it.” What it took was to mentor young female dentists and to say, “You can do it.”
I graduated dental school and got married in the same month. After a few years of associating, I started looking at dental practices to buy. Then my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I decided to have a baby hoping my dad could see his first grandchild before he died. I gave birth 2 months after he passed away. One month after that, an ideal practice went up for sale near my home. I went over to meet the owner and learn about the office and instead of paying attention to him, I kept thinking that I need to feed my son who was waiting in the car for 2 hours with my husband. I did not buy the practice. Instead, I went into teaching at a dental hygiene school part-time. It had set hours which were ideal for picking up my son on time from his babysitter. I gave up on my dream of owning a dental practice.
Besides teaching, I was also associating part-time. I didn’t enjoy associating and I think my kids could tell. When my son was 4 and my daughter was 3, he asked me where I was going and I told him I was going to work. He asked me why. I responded, “To make money.” He then looked at me with his big hazel eyes and said, “Is money more important than us?” That was a pivotal moment in my life. I couldn’t believe I was leaving my children for something I didn’t even enjoy. I knew I had to make a change. I thought about what I enjoyed most in dental school; it was treating children at the public health clinic. At that moment, I knew I had to make a change in my career. The next day I looked at the classified section of a dental journal and found one position at a public health clinic. I applied and got the position. I was so much happier as I could say to my kids that even though I am their only mom, I was leaving them for people who needed me more.
When my kids got older and needed me less, I was able to contribute to my profession. A dentist, Dr. Lisa Bentley, kept pushing me to be the president of my local dental society. I was surprised, as I didn’t think I was capable, but she kept pushing. I finally said yes and that decision opened doors for me with the Ontario Dental Association (ODA), which represents my province. Dr. Jonathan Mahn, a dentist and ODA leader, kept sharing his power with me giving me important roles and decision-making responsibilities. I started to be seen as a leader in the profession and was asked to write articles for dental journals. At an ODA dental conference, a dental hygienist, Joanne Jorge, asked if I was a speaker. When I told her I wasn’t, she told me I should be and got me into speaking at various dental meetings. At one of the meetings, a popular speaker, Dr. Nekky Jamal, said he will introduce me and he was able to make the crowd love me before I even said a word. It was because of that introduction that I started speaking at bigger dental conferences across Canada.
It is because of my son who made me realize I should follow my values, my colleagues, like Nekky and Jonathan, who put me in the spotlight; and Lisa and Joanne, who pushed me, that I am doing what I never even dreamed of doing. That gave me the confidence to start my own study club and host my own podcast. Then, I remembered the dream of owning my own practice. With my kids finishing university, I said to myself, “My kids are grown, now it’s my time to grow.” My startup practice will open this summer, and I named it Watermelon Dental to signify growth.
I told my story to a female dental student who I met through the Women in Dentistry mentorship program. I told her she doesn’t have to wait for her children to be grown, to grow in her career. “You can grow together.” I then asked her about her dreams. She said she wants to help people who can’t afford care, but she doesn’t know how. I told her about the advocacy and volunteer work I have done to help with access to care. She was surprised to hear that it is possible for one person to make a difference, and that she herself can make a difference. I told her, “Start in dental school. Start with one day of providing free dental care. You can do it.”
What does it take for women to be more successful in dentistry? It takes others to see their potential, to share their power, to put them in the spotlight, and to believe in them so they believe in themselves. It takes women to know they can have the family and career they desire. It takes women to know that their gender does not need to hold them back. It takes women to know that dentistry is a great profession for women.
