Empowering Women in Dentistry

Just like other male-dominated fields, dentistry is unfortunately also sailing in the same boat! You’ll be shocked to know that while the male: female ratio in dental colleges in India is 30:70, it sadly is almost reversed when it comes to dental practitioners in the country. 30% of the total female dental students do not start dental practice after under-graduation/post-graduation. There are multiple reasons causing these dismal statistics for women, the major ones being - 

1. Lack of guidance and finances to start a high-cap dental clinic.
2. Confusion regarding an ideal place to start a practice as the woman has to change her residence after getting married.

Commonly after the education is completed, Indian families start searching for a life-partner for girls and during this period, female dentists prefer working under some dentist until their final residence is finalized. This particular phenomenon leads to 1.5-2.5 years of delay in starting their own dental practice. After marriage, women again prefer to work under someone as they are new to the city over setting up an independent dental practice. 2-3 years down the line when they conceive, they either give the clinic to someone else to run or pause their practice completely. Indian statistics read that 20% of female dental practitioners give up on their practice during this time. This leaves us with hardly 50% of total female dentists practicing in the country.

Naturally, the remaining 50% somehow balancing their personal and professional lives and only 5% of the total female dentists in India today occupy a leadership position. These numbers are also sadly reflected in the country’s dental council and Indian Dental Association. Since its inception, (1946) the IDA Head-Office has had only one woman as president, till date, and no female secretary-general! Same is the case with DCI. One thing I can say for sure is, absence of women in leadership positions is not because of lack of confidence or skills, but lack of opportunities and encouragement. 

India has a high number of confident and skilled women dental surgeons, and I always believed that it is only after owning your dental practice independently that can give you a real experience of finance, market-requirements, and leadership skills in dentistry. 

I strongly believe that giving opportunities and platforms to these talented women will not only result in India having the best oral health index but also create numerous job opportunities for female dentists who have gaps in their careers.

As the co-founder of DentalDost, I feel extremely proud and happy that we are a women-led dental-tech startup giving multiple opportunities and roles to female dentists in India. Right from giving dentists opportunities to work-from-home, to contributing to how dentistry is now delivered, especially in the middle of a pandemic, there’s so much room for every dental surgeon to add value, create impact, and make a difference! At DentalDost, my majority-female team is delivering a dental diagnosis, treatment plans, and post-treatment follow-ups using smart technologies in two unique ways.

First is the 24x7 free dental helpline, completely dedicated to helping patients facing pain or other emergencies, give second/third opinions and give a transparent pricing list. With this helpline, we give patients direct access to qualified DentalDost dental surgeons 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for free, and that too within seconds!

Second is our smart AI-ML-powered DentalDost app that uses our ML-algorithm to deliver dental diagnosis and remedies within seconds to patients and helps them imbibe good habits and daily hygiene to achieve the best oral and eventually overall hygiene. All of this is only possible because my all-women dentist team, who without any hesitance or reluctance work 24*7 and deliver their 100%.

Out of the 21 people in DentalDost, 14 are women and I am super proud of that fact!

Sending good energy and positivity to all women out there. Happy International Womens’ Day!