Sexism in dental school/dentistry?

[DSchoolorBust202X]

I’ve been wondering this for a while, but do any of my fellow women in dentistry experience sexism while in school or in practice? I’m simply curious and wanted to hear from people who are further along the path than I am. Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[TanMan]

I’ve been wondering this for a while, but do any of my fellow women in dentistry experience sexism while in school or in practice? I’m simply curious and wanted to hear from people who are further along the path than I am. Thanks!

In dental school, being a woman helps tremendously, especially in schools with predominantly male faculty.

 

[Racquetball3r]

In dental school, being a woman helps tremendously, especially in schools with predominantly male faculty.

No question about it.

 

[periopocket]

If you are a hot girl you are set in dental school, residency and life!

 

[2TH MVR]

If you are a hot girl you are set in dental school, residency and life!

In dental school, being a woman helps tremendously, especially in schools with predominantly male faculty.

If I'm not mistaken .... aren't these examples of sexism lol.

 

[deleted480308]

There are people in dentistry. ANd much like anywhere people are some will give you bonus points, some negative and some not care at all about your demographics

 

[artist2022]

I’ve been wondering this for a while, but do any of my fellow women in dentistry experience sexism while in school or in practice? I’m simply curious and wanted to hear from people who are further along the path than I am. Thanks!

I'm pretty sure that everyone who's responded to your thread so far is a guy BUT you'll be in my shoes in a year. So far, I haven't experienced any sexism. Also, there are more girls in our class than guys so there's that

 

[Likkriue]

Dental school is like 65% women.

 

[321931]

I agree with alot of the posters here. Being a pretty girl....helps a ton in dental school. Being a pretty dentist does to.

Just being honest. Noone likes the dentist. Who wants to go see the fat balding dentist for a filling....but when you see a cute young dentist...well it makes going to the dentist that much better.

And the same holds true for the "hot male" dentist. Go look at that dentist who did the keke drake dance. Lots of girls fawning over him.

That being said, I do think females who were attractive had a much easier time in school.

 

[Likkriue]

Interestingly, my school is 60% male, 40% female, most of the men in my class are married with their wives staying at home to take care of the kids. Maybe it's a Midwest thing that more men go into higher education and more women opt to be stay-at-home moms.

Yes I should’ve been clearer, my* dental school is 65% female.
Sexism does occur as some male patients are only allowed to be seen by male providers because they have a history of making the female dental students uncomfortable. Which is really unfortunate.
And regards to the attractiveness thing people have mentioned, attractive members of either sex tend to have advantages in almost all career fields.

 

[luisfigo]

most dental schools/professional schools are female nowadays. The only consistent sexism is that people will mistake women dentists for assistants and hygienists, but it's an easy correction.

 

[yappy]

This is by far the best time for women to be in dental school. Baby boomer dentists, predominantly men, cater female students and give them the benefit of the doubt. It is kind of ridiculous but it's a fact. Not all professors are like this but it is common enough that the experience for women in dental school is completely different than their male counterparts. Many female professors were trail blazers in their day and also seek to give today's female students a hand-up. You will even see women only dental student groups for that aim. I foresee that in the future this will change when today's more gender-balanced workforce becomes educators.

 

[artist2022]

I hear pretty ones experience it more often.

If you are a pretty Caucasian female with traditional Christian values and middle to upper middle class background, the dental school clinic faculty, who ironically are vastly old Caucasian conservative males, will be a whole lot kinder to you. May not be political correct, but pretty much an unspoken trend.

The only exception to this is perio and prosth faculty as most of them are foreign/Indian.

You calling me ugly? das cool

Here at UCLA, the student body is diverse, and the faculty are diverse too. I don't see any of my classmates having an upperhand or being treated any differently.

Way to bring race/religion into this thread that was pretty much just about gender though!

 

[2TH MVR]

You calling me ugly?

Sorry, I can't stop laughing.

 

[artist2022]

Sorry, I can't stop laughing.

If sexism is experienced more by "pretty ones", and if I don't experience sexism, then I must not be one of the "pretty ones"

@DSchoolorBust202X, you know me and so I'm asking you to trust me when I say everything will be fine (at least in your first year of school) I'll update when I'm a D2 if need be

 

[BlackThought]

The only exception to this is perio and prosth faculty as most of them are foreign/Indian.

That came out of left field.

 

[2TH MVR]

If sexism is experienced more by "pretty ones", and if I don't experience sexism, then I must not be one of the "pretty ones"

I interpreted the exchange the same as you. You handled it extremely well ..... For a girl. Just kidding. .

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

You calling me ugly? das cool

lolololol

 

[deleted659902]

I interpreted the exchange the same as you. You handled it extremely well ..... For a girl. Just kidding. .

Indeed. She handled it exquisitely. Let's play it nice boys. She's apparently a moderator and a "verified expert." Don't want any retaliation from a plain jane.

 

[artist2022]

Indeed. She handled it exquisitely. Let's play it nice boys. She's apparently a moderator and a "verified expert." Don't want any retaliation from a plain jane.

You should take a spoonful of your own medicine.... It was really unnecessary to add in that last line. Besides that though, being racist and trying to inflame will not be tolerated on the forum.

 

[Faefly]

During my interview at Columbia.
I was walking with the other girls and two elderly male dentists saw us and they were saying
All just women, they are taking over the profession. And no they were not joking.

Another reason that made me not happy with Columbia.

 

[setdoc7]

Unbelievable!!! How is this even allowed on this forum? It is most definitely not tolerated where I work, and anyone even remotely thought to have this mindset is sent packing or to some sort of counseling.
There are plenty of articles out there about sexism, implicit bias, etc. Read them. It's ugly to even think about. And to my colleagues who post on this forum, the days of dentistry being a "boys club" have been over for a long time, and it's time to stop acting like boys. How can we call for accountability in government, society, and in general when we cannot even hold ourselves accountable?

 

[Faefly]

Are you a pretty Caucasian female with middle or upper middle class background and with strong Christian values?

You are confusing this site with ChristianMingle site lol.

 

[deleted659902]

You should take a spoonful of your own medicine.... It was really unnecessary to add in that last line. Besides that though, being racist and trying to inflame will not be tolerated on the forum.

Just wait until you hit the clinic and let us know how your perception stands, son. I mean sis.

 

[lemoncurry]

Keep it professional.

 

[princeafrica]

Just wait until you hit the clinic and let us know how your perception stands, son. I mean sis.

Wow

 

[DSchoolorBust202X]

Whew! Sorry I asked I genuinely wanted to hear from the women on this forum to know what I should anticipate but didn't expect to start an argument.

Thanks to all the adults who shared their thoughts on this. I appreciate it very much.

 

[shulk]

You may experience sexism in dental school, but it might not be from other students or faculty but rather the patients. Just remember that if a patient makes you uncomfortable talk to someone about it, your preceptor, etc.

 

[BluntForceTrauma]

Can we just close this thread already?

 

[princeafrica]

Can we just close this thread already?

Can we start a racism one

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

*~*~*~*~*The Official 2018-2019 Racism Thread*~*~*~*~*

 

[2TH MVR]

Yeah ... all this thread needed was politics. Then you would have had the tri-fecta.

 

[setdoc7]

Interesting. The valedictorian of my class, way back in the early 80's, was a woman. She was the most unassuming, big hearted person in the class, and deserved her special place at graduation. She was not only brilliant, but had great hands. She was the example of what education in dentistry had become, and could become, as there were few women in my class.
Sexism should not be tolerated, nor any type of implicit bias in dental education. If you see it, or experience it, speak up. Dental education needs to move into the 21st century. Those in charge are still from the 70's, 80's, and 90's. The students must insist on accountability. Take a lesson from our friendly neighbors to the north, and do not fall into this trap.

 

[TanMan]

I hear pretty ones experience it more often.

If you are a pretty Caucasian female with traditional Christian values and middle to upper middle class background, the dental school clinic faculty, who ironically are vastly old Caucasian conservative males, will be a whole lot kinder to you. May not be political correct, but pretty much an unspoken trend.

The only exception to this is perio and prosth faculty as most of them are foreign/Indian.

Unfortunately, this is true... for the most part. When I went to dental school, being attractive (regardless of the race, whether it be caucasian, hispanic, persian, etc..) meant special privileges and a lot easier dental school experience than other groups (males and troublemakers/whistleblowers). However, this is taken into context that most department heads were male during my time. Female instructors tend to be harsher on their female counterparts, especially if they see them as competition or a threat (to god knows what?).

Interesting. The valedictorian of my class, way back in the early 80's, was a woman. She was the most unassuming, big hearted person in the class, and deserved her special place at graduation. She was not only brilliant, but had great hands. She was the example of what education in dentistry had become, and could become, as there were few women in my class.
Sexism should not be tolerated, nor any type of implicit bias in dental education. If you see it, or experience it, speak up. Dental education needs to move into the 21st century. Those in charge are still from the 70's, 80's, and 90's. The students must insist on accountability. Take a lesson from our friendly neighbors to the north, and do not fall into this trap.

I would caution future and current dental students from stirring the pot. Most sexism in dental school occurs on lowered grading standards and favoritism among differently-gendered faculty/student mix (Male faculty/female student or vice-versa). In dental school, you have very little power and are essentially subjugated and allowed to graduate by the grace of your faculty/department heads (due to the subjectivity of dental performance evaluations)... or if you have enough money, sue your way out of the situation. In the real world, we should definitely not tolerate any kind of -isms, but my dental school experience was completely different. I've seen people held back for a lot lesser accusations... either by piling on requirements, not given patients, or some other bureaucracy that prevents you from graduating on time. Tread carefully with tact, diplomacy, and strategy if you plan to speak up. Most cases of sexism/other -isms in dental school are those that are not negatively affecting people (from an absolute, not relative perspective), but giving unfair advantages to certain groups of people.

So yes... if you plan to speak up, please have a plan, think about all possible moves by the perpetrators, and have evidence ready. I had to look it up, but I think what I'm describing is benevolent sexism.

There is one negative effect to this type of sexism in dental school. The lack of respect among the peers who witness this type of sexism and the tendency to doubt the abilities of benefiting groups.

 

[BluntForceTrauma]

boy those Mormon colleagues...
.

Hahahhhahaha

 

[arlmay]

Whether or not it's correct in today's society, in my opinion this is undoubtedly true based on interactions I observed while in dental school.

 

[setdoc7]

Of course evidence is the key to any accusation, and facts always trump hearsay. In the 80’s, proving that faculty behaved inappropriately would have been nearly impossible, as corroboration by either fellow students or other faculty would have been necessary. But today, each of you carries a video and voice recording device, not to mention the proliferation of drop cams and the university’s own surveillance. I am not suggesting that dental students become amateur spies, but if you become the target of inappropriate behavior, you must document it. Since the beginning of this thread, I have polled my own residents about the occurrence of sexism during their DS education. Each answered a resounding yes. Extremely disheartening. As an educator and a parent, I would feel very ashamed if someone I was responsible to train thought I treated them unfairly or made them uncomfortable. Of course, if they were uncomfortable because they were unprepared, that’s on them. Many times I have seen unprepared students confuse their own inability with misunderstanding why a faculty member was tough on them. The most difficult situation. Poor learning and poor teaching. How do you differentiate the lazy student from the one who has not yet grasped an important concept? This often leads to poor relations. Both students and faculty must be willing to learn every day.

 

[DrJeff]

Of course evidence is the key to any accusation, and facts always trump hearsay. In the 80’s, proving that faculty behaved inappropriately would have been nearly impossible, as corroboration by either fellow students or other faculty would have been necessary. But today, each of you carries a video and voice recording device, not to mention the proliferation of drop cams and the university’s own surveillance. I am not suggesting that dental students become amateur spies, but if you become the target of inappropriate behavior, you must document it. Since the beginning of this thread, I have polled my own residents about the occurrence of sexism during their DS education. Each answered a resounding yes. Extremely disheartening. As an educator and a parent, I would feel very ashamed if someone I was responsible to train thought I treated them unfairly or made them uncomfortable. Of course, if they were uncomfortable because they were unprepared, that’s on them. Many times I have seen unprepared students confuse their own inability with misunderstanding why a faculty member was tough on them. The most difficult situation. Poor learning and poor teaching. How do you differentiate the lazy student from the one who has not yet grasped an important concept? This often leads to poor relations. Both students and faculty must be willing to learn every day.

Absolutely spot on post!

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Yeah ... all this thread needed was politics. Then you would have had the tri-fecta.

We're going to build a wall and Endo is going to pay. And the reason they're going to pay and the way they're going to pay, @2TH MVR , is this. We have a trade deficit now with Endo of 58 referrals a year. The wall is going to cost 10 referrals a year. That's what it's going to cost. It's going to be a powerful wall, made of composite and brackets. It's going to cost 10 referrals.

― Donald Tooth

 

[Cold Front]

My bench instructor, a female dentist in her early 60s, is seemingly harsher on female students than male students. To each his own...

And you are surprised? I guess you haven’t spent enough time around women... and someone will probably call me out for saying that I’m sexist, but women are constantly territorial towards other women for the most part (unless they have something major in common), and the older they are - the more they understand how deep that game goes.

I work at an office where I’m the only male, and 11 females... then I come home to my lovely wife, then I visit my parents at home on the weeks, and run into my 4 sisters and my mother... it’s a woman’s world in my neck of the woods. And it’s great!

 

[yappy]

nm

 

[AnaCho]

4th year student here. I was asked quite a few times by patients if I am the hygiene student or if I am studying to be a dental assistant. Sadly I notice the ones asking questions like these are all female patients.

I witnessed that a patient requested to have male student doing treatment on her. She wanted no female student dentist, no female assistant, basically no female near the operatory while she’s there.

My school had a thing called interprofessional day and we had to interact with nursing students for like a day. One of the nursing students asked my friend “are all the guys in your class studying to be dentist and all the girls studying to be hygienist?”

There’s a classmate of certain religion “joked” about women shouldn’t be in dentistry or work (he has a stay at home wife).

When I was interviewing at a school on the east coast prior to getting into dental school, the faculty who interviewed me mentioned how I am a woman and should consider having kids and family first instead of my career.

 

[lemoncurry]

And you are surprised? I guess you haven’t spent enough time around women... and someone will probably call me out for saying that I’m sexist, but women are constantly territorial towards other women for the most part (unless they have something major in common), and the older they are - the more they understand how deep that game goes.

I work at an office where I’m the only male, and 11 females... then I come home to my lovely wife, then I visit my parents at home on the weeks, and run into my 4 sisters and my mother... it’s a woman’s world in my neck of the woods. And it’s great!

Dude, that's pretty much my life, except in addition to my wife, I come home to 6 daughters as well!

 

[zomf]

Lololol. It was pleasantly flattering on my ego being a male dental assistant during my undergrad years.
Me: [places bib on patient]
Me: [asks how day is going]
Pt: "You'll make a great dentist one day!!!11!"

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Lololol. It was pleasantly flattering on my ego being a male dental assistant during my undergrad years.
Me: [places bib on patient]
Me: [asks how day is going]
Pt: "You'll make a great dentist one day!!!11!"

Same but let’s keep this thread about women’s experiences.

 

[setdoc7]

Which brings me back to one of my favorite topics, improving dental education. How to solve the bench instructor who is sexist, racist, or just plays favorites. Digital scanning to grade preparations. Period.
The computer doesn't lie, and has solved a great many arguments, or curtailed them at sporting events where the eagle eye makes the call. We have the technology, and the fact that every school does not embrace it is a reason to call upon CODA to make it mandatory. If every dental student had a scanner at his/her bench, they could practice as much as they wanted on those lovely plastic teeth, and in the end, everyone would have the opportunity to be able to cut a perfect prep. Seems simple. All that tuition, but no improvement in education.

 

[pubhealthdent]

I didn't experience any sexism in school from faculty, staff, or other students. But we had about 60% women so I wouldn't have expected much sexism. I've been practicing for a little under a year now and can tell you I have experienced some sexism from patients, never from colleagues. Older male patients in particular love trying to call me by my first name instead of Dr. __ but will then refer to their previous (male) provider as Dr. __. Also tons of times I'll get asked if I'm a hygienist or an assistant, even after introducing myself as Dr. __. Have I lost any sleep over any of this? Nope. These patients are certainly in the minority.

 

[HelicaseInitiator]

Feeling talked down to by men, men patients asking to speak to the "real doctor" or listening to a male classmate over you, having your looks commented on by patients and sexual remarks. Yeah, there is plenty of sexism in dental school and dentistry.

 

[ZestyToothpaste]

I’ve been wondering this for a while, but do any of my fellow women in dentistry experience sexism while in school or in practice? I’m simply curious and wanted to hear from people who are further along the path than I am. Thanks!

Sexism definitely exists in dental school. Although we had blind grading (thank goodness) attention was blatantly given to male students by certain female covering instructors and to female students by certain male covering instructors. Occasionally I saw male covering instructors favor male students too. Of course not every faculty member did this but it occurred enough by the ones who did for students to know who to approach for help. The fact that both genders in faculty positions did this doesn't make it right and it doesn't cancel things out nor does it level the playing field.

In private practice, I experienced sexism from my practice owner who asked why I wasn't married yet since I'm attractive enough


However, the *worst* sexism I received was from female staff, especially staff who have worked with a male dentist for several years. A word to the new female dentist who will become an associate/partner to an older male dentist: keep your eye out for staff who question your abilities and skills since you do things differently than the practice owner who graduated dental school the year you were born. You don't want to be on a team with staff like this. They are convinced you will never be as good as the male practice owner and they'll complain about you to him behind your back. They'll also hurt your production because patients will sense the staff's opinion of you and won't want to be scheduled with you. Tell the practice owner that his office is a toxic work environment and run away! This is what I did and it made a huge improvement to my pay check and my happiness!

 

[DrJeff]

Honestly what seems to be an cause of so much of the perception of sexism, racism, perceived bias against one's self by another, etc, etc, etc is a failure of that individual to be a strong and effective communicator and leader.

If one is a strong, effective leader, regardless of their sex, race, orientation, age, etc you rarely hear any complaints of racism, sexism, age or gender bias, etc. Leadership isn't easy, and it's not a given and takes time to earn it from others. If and when one is able to do that, then the perception that they're being discriminated against in various ways by others seems to disappear. One also at times has to understand that respect as a leader doesn't just happen, it is earned, and earned in various ways. Unfortunately it seems that more and more there;s a mentality of victim-hood that is growing, and frankly inhibiting so many with underlying, but unrealized leadership ability. And sometimes that will require one to accept that not everyone is going to like you, and that's ok