It’s Women’s History Month and that means it’s time to do your research and find out about the incredible women who have carved out a place in time through all industries, including the world of dentistry.

Female dentists have fought long and hard to become part of the profession. From visiting patients on a dog sled to founding the NAACP in 1914, women are a force to be reckoned with in the world of dentistry.

Take a look at two practicing female dentists, and you will see how difficult it was to break into an all male industry.

Emeline Roberts Jones and Women’s History Month

Married at 18 in 1854 to DDS, Daniel Jones Emiline Roberts Jones was a passionate woman. While Emeline’s husband forbid her to become involved in dentistry, she secretly studied dentistry while working on real people. During her apprenticeship, she extracted hundreds of teeth finally convincing her husband to allow her to become part of his practice. She was only 19.

When she turned 23, she and her husband became partners in the dental practice. When her husband passed away in 1865, she became the sole owner of the dental practice. She traveled around Rhode Island and Connecticut before setting up a permanent home in New Haven.

Emeline’s career lasted 6 decades with Emeline becoming an honorary member of the prestigious National Dental Association in 1914.

Lucy Hobbs Taylor

Lucy Hobbs Taylor has the honor of becoming the very female to earn her DDS in 1866. Born in 1833, Dr. Taylor became an orphan along with her nine brothers and sisters when she was only 12 years old.

Supporting her family as a seamstress, Lucy Hobbs Taylor educated herself before moving to Michigan where she became a teacher. Becoming passionate about medicine, she applied at the Eclectic Medical College only to be denied because she was a woman.

Lucy was denied entry a second time and a third time when she tried to enroll in the Ohio College of Dentistry. She opened a dental practice in 1861 in Cincinnati and was finally allowed to begin and complete her dentistry classes. She received her DDS through the college after 7 years of study.

Women’s History Month and Dr. Angela Cameron

Women continue to make strides regardless of the industry. Dr. Angela Cameron is one of those women who proudly owns and operates her practice, Sophisticated-Smiles and the TMJ Treatment Clinic.

Dr. Cameron opened the TMJ Treatment Clinic to help dental practitioners. Devoted to helping dental teams diagnose and treat obstructive sleep apnea without surgery or medications the TMJ Clinic , along with her dental clinic Sophisticated-Smiles, is something that Dr. Cameron is passionate about.

Happy Women’s History Month and don’t forget, if you would like to meet Dr. Cameron, call, text or send a DM to Sophisticated-Smiles today.