Women Leading Dentistry

The landscape of dentistry is shifting, and women are increasingly stepping into influential positions, challenging the status quo, and bringing unique strengths to the profession. At the Female Dentist, we take pride in celebrating these trailblazing women and champion the next generation of female leaders.

This encouraging trend is clearly shown by the UK’s statistics. In the past, men predominated in dental colleges, but this has drastically altered. According to recent data from 2021, 61% of dental students in the UK were female. This shows that women have consistently shown interest in and success in entering this difficult sector. This demographic shift is not limited to the number of students; it is also being reflected in the practicing workforce. As evidenced by their increasing involvement in clinical practice, women made up 58% of the dental workforce in the UK by 2019. In addition, there were 3,596 more registered female dentists in the UK between 2013 and 2021 than there were male dentists, meaning that women now make up the majority of dental professionals.

Women are becoming more visible and powerful in UK dentistry academia and professional associations, even if efforts are still being made to guarantee fair representation in the highest levels of leadership. Women actively serving on the Principal Executive Committees of the General Dental Council (GDC) and the British Dental Association (BDA) are two examples, as are female deans and professors at prestigious dental schools. Through networking and mentoring, The Female Dentist aims to aggressively assist and advance women into these important positions. Female dentists in the UK are also actively contributing to dental research and advancement within the field.

By prioritising the mentorship and collaborative environments that the Female Dentist provides, we will be able to continue to make advancements and strides for women in dentistry, and we can’t wait to see what is next!