Are you in need of CE credits? If so, check out our peer-reviewed, self-study CE courses here.
Test Your Knowledge of Historical Women in Dentistry
1. What year did Irene Newman first perform the duties of a dental hygienist?
The same year Dr. Alfred Fones graduated from dental school (1890), the understanding that bacteria caused dental decay was emerging. At the time, dentists were trying several approaches to combat bacteria. One such approach was "Odontocure," where "a woman with an orange wooden stick, pumice, and a flannel rag patrolled the neighborhood cleaning teeth."1 However, dentists were so busy extracting teeth that many gave up trying to provide preventive treatment. Dr. Fones had an idea for a different approach.1
Dr. Fones trained his dental assistant (also his cousin) to provide preventive treatment. Irene Newman (1875-1958) first performed the duties of what Dr. Fones called a dental hygienist in 1907. Much of the public scoffed at the idea of visiting the dentist regularly for preventive care, but some did support it.1
In 1913, Dr. Fones and Irene Newman began instructing the first class of dental hygienists. People came from as far as Japan to their carriage house basement clinic in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to learn this new profession. Dr. Fones helped E. Everett Cortright found the Junior College of Connecticut, now the University of Bridgeport.1
"The state of Connecticut was so impressed they issued the world's first license for practicing dental hygiene to Irene Newman. The idea quickly caught on around America and the world. Due to the hygiene program in place in the city, Bridgeport had the lowest death rate of any large city worldwide during the 1918 influenza pandemic."1
Dr. Fones and Irene Newman also implemented dental health programs in schools to teach children about oral hygiene at home, how to and the importance of it.1
Reference
1. Lehman, E. (n.d.). Alfred Fones, Irene Newman, and the Dental Hygiene Revolution. Bridgeport Library: Bridgeport History Center. https://bportlibrary.org/hc/education/dr-alfred-fones/
2. Which women helped form the American Academy of Periodontology?
Dr. Gillette Hayden (1880-1929) was the great-granddaughter of Horace Hayden, who was one of the founders of the first dental college in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1902, she was the third woman to graduate from Ohio Medical University's dental school.1
After traveling to Europe to introduce periodontal disease treatment protocols, Dr. Hayden returned to Columbus, Ohio, and devoted her dental practice exclusively to periodontics in 1908.1
Along with Dr. Grace Rodgers Spalding, Dr. Gillette Hayden helped form the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) in 1914. Dr. Hayden's further contributions to the AAP included her presidency in 1916, her election as a fellow, and her nearly continuous service on the executive council until her passing in 1929.1
Dr. Hayden also served as president of the Federation of American Women Dentists in 1923 and was elected secretary of the periodontia section of the International Dental Congress in 1925. She was a part of the equal rights movement and was involved in several organizations and groups.1
Reference
1. Gillette Hayden. (2014, May 6). The Ohio State University. https://library.osu.edu/site/mhcb/2014/05/06/gillette-hayden/
3. Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins is the first African American woman to graduate with a dental degree.
Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins (1867-1953) was born in Clarksville, Tennessee. Her mother passed away, and her father was estranged, so she was raised by her aunt, who could not read or write. The family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and while in high school, Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins worked as a seamstress and in a dental office. It was this dental office owned by Drs. William and Jonathan Taft, where she found her love of dentistry.1
Dr. Taft, who employed Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, was the dean of the Ohio College of Dentistry and then later the dean of the Dental College at the University of Michigan. He was a significant supporter of admitting women to dental school and mentored Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins.1
She enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1887. Three years later, she became the first African American woman to graduate with a Doctor of Dental Surgery in the U.S. After graduating in 1890, Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, and opened her dental practice.1
Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins married Spanish-American war veteran Sanford Nelson, and they moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she opened a practice that served men and women of all races. She was the first African American, man or woman, to practice dentistry in Chicago.1
Her husband passed away, and she married William Rollins. Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins retired from clinical practice in the mid-1930s. Sadly, her second husband passed away from injuries related to a car accident in 1944. Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins passed away at age 86 in 1953. She is a tremendous example of not allowing a rough start to determine your success in life.1
Reference
1. Agbor-Taylor, P. (2013, November 22). Ida Gray Nelson Rollins (1867-1953). BlackPast. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/rollins-ida-gray-nelson-1867-1953/
4. Who was the first dentist in the U.S. to specialize in pediatric dentistry?
Dr. Minnie Evangeline Jordan (1865-1952) was the first U.S. dentist to focus her practice on children and is considered a founder of pediatric dentistry.1,2 Dr. Fanny A. Rambarger limited her practice to women and children, but not strictly children, as Dr. Minnie Evangeline Jordan did.2
Dr. Minnie Evangeline Jordan's career began in education as a teacher. During summers, she would work as a dental assistant, which led her to study dentistry at the University of California.1 She graduated in 1898 and opened a dental clinic at the Orphan's Home, where she developed a course called "Care of Children's Teeth."3
Dr. Jordan strongly believed that diet played a role in dental health and recognized the need for education and specific training in treating pediatric dental patients. She was one of the first dentists who recognized "baby bottle decay."3 Dr. Jordan is quoted saying (1925), "Rid the country of the deadly candy shop and grocery store, get most of your living from the vegetable garden and the family cow, and apply the teaching of oral hygiene."1
Dr. Minnie Evangeline Jordan was also one of the founders of the American Society of Dentistry for Children.3
References
1. M. Evangeline Jordan. (n.d.). Sindecuse Museum. https://www.sindecusemuseum.org/m-evangeline-jordon
2. Timeline of Women in Dentistry. (n.d.). History of Dentistry. http://www.historyofdentistry.net/famous-dentists/timeline-of-women-in-dentistry/
3. 10 Pioneering Women in Dentistry. (2021, September 22). American Orthodontic Society. https://orthodontics.com/pioneering-women-in-dentistry/
5. Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor was the first American woman to earn a degree in dentistry. She began practicing dentistry before graduating from dental school.
Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor (1833-1910) began her career in 1849 as a schoolteacher. While teaching, she began the study of medicine. However, she was not allowed admittance to the Eclectic College of Medicine in Ohio because she was a woman, so she studied privately under one of the professors. This professor suggested a focus on dentistry. Yet again, she was refused admission because she was a woman, this time to the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, so she studied privately under the dental school's dean.1
Without a formal degree in dentistry, Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor apprenticed herself as a practicing graduate of the school and opened her dental practice in 1861. In July 1865, she was elected as a member of the Iowa State Dental Society. Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor was also sent as a delegate to the American Dental Association convention the same year - all before being accepted or completing dental school.1
It wasn't until November 1865 that she was allowed admittance to the senior class of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery. She graduated in February 1866 as the first woman to earn a degree in dentistry in the U.S. From there, Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor practiced in Chicago and married James M. Taylor in 1867, who became a dentist at her instruction.1
In 1867, Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor and Dr. James M. Taylor moved to Kansas and opened a large dental practice. She avidly supported the women's suffrage movement and practiced until her husband's passing in 1886.1
Reference
1. Lucy Hobbs Taylor. (n.d.). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucy-Hobbs-Taylor
6. Who wrote the textbook Clinical Practice of the Dental Hygienist while establishing a dental hygiene program at the University of Washington?
This is a freebie! Also known as the “godmother of modern dental hygiene” and “queen of dental hygiene,” Dr. Esther M. Wilkins authored Clinical Practice of the Dental Hygienist, currently in its 14th edition.1
Dr. Esther M. Wilkins (1916-2016) was born in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and grew up in nearby Tyngsborough. She graduated from Simmons College in Boston with a Bachelor of Science in 1938, initially pursuing nursing before switching to a general science major. A lecture during her senior year on public health careers mentioned dental hygiene. Having never met a dental hygienist before, Dr. Wilkins was intrigued and visited the Forsyth School that very day.2
After graduating from Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene in 1939, Dr. Wilkins went on to earn a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree in 1949 from Tufts School of Dental Medicine. When she applied to Tufts and was accepted, she was urged to defer a year so she wasn't the only woman in her class, which she did.2
During an internship at the Eastman Dental Dispensary in Rochester, New York, the University of Washington in Seattle recruited Dr. Wilkins to establish and build a dental hygiene program at the new dental school from the ground up in 1950.1-3
From ordering instruments, recruiting clinical faculty, and creating a curriculum, she started from scratch. However, the dental hygiene textbooks at the time were out of date and less than comprehensive. To supplement her teaching, Dr. Wilkins created her own text on specialized dental hygiene subjects, distributing her lessons to students as handouts that they collected in loose-leaf binders.2
Making his usual rounds, a textbook salesperson spotted the thick stack of lessons piled on Dr. Wilkins’ desk in 1959. He asked to take a look and said it should be published. That fall, the first edition of Clinical Practice of the Dental Hygienist was published.2
After 12 years at the University of Washington, Dr. Wilkins returned to Tufts School of Dental Medicine, gaining a certificate in periodontology in 1966. During this time, she reconnected with a former classmate, James Gallagher, an assistant professor in the Department of Complete Dentures who was also pursuing a prosthodontics degree. They married in 1966 when Dr. Wilkins began teaching periodontics part-time. She remained a professor at Tufts for 45 years.2
Dr. Esther M. Wilkins passed away in 2016, three days after her 100th birthday.1
References
1. Columns Staff. (2017, February 28). Esther M. Wilkins (1916-2016). University of Washington Magazine. https://magazine.washington.edu/esther-m-wilkins-1916-2016/
2. Flaherty, J. (2012, March 13). By the Book. Tufts University. https://now.tufts.edu/2012/03/13/book
3. Shoreline CC Is School’s New Dental Hygiene Training Partner. (2020, September 28). University of Washington School of Dentistry. https://dental.washington.edu/shoreline-cc-is-schools-new-dental-hygiene-training-partner/
