A Pioneer in Women’s Dentistry: Lucy Hobbs Taylor

While there surely have been many women throughout history who practiced dental work or assisted their husbands, fathers, and brothers with their practices, the first woman to graduate from a recognized dental school was Lucy Hobbs Taylor. She was born in New York in 1833, one of ten children in her family orphaned when Lucy was only 12 years old. She worked as a seamstress in order to complete her schooling, and became a teacher.

A Career in Medicine

After ten years of teaching, Lucy decided she wanted to enter the field of medicine, and attempted to enter a medical school where women were not accepted as students. Next, she turned to dentistry as a potential career, but before being accepted into dental school she had to undergo an apprenticeship with a dentist. The only person that would accept her was Dr. Samuel Wardle, a graduate of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery who ran a practice in Cincinnati.

Despite her apprenticeship with Dr. Wardle, her application to the Ohio College of Dental Surgery was denied in 1861. On Dr. Wardle’s advice, Lucy began to practice dentistry without a degree. (He advised her that many other so-called male “dentists” were also practicing without a formal degree at the time.) She opened a practice in Iowa during the Civil War, and became an active member of the Iowa Dental Society. Her colleagues in Iowa eventually petitioned to dental schools to allow her to enroll, and threatened to boycott any institution that would not allow Lucy to study. The Ohio College of Dental Surgery accepted her application in 1865.

By that time, she had already been practicing dentistry for four years, so Lucy graduated from the school in 1866, less than one year after she enrolled. That made her the first woman in the nation to earn a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. Lucy opened a new dental office in Chicago where she met her husband, James M. Taylor, who went on to study dentistry as well. They would move to Lawrence, Kansas, and practice dentistry together for more than 40 years, living in Kansas until their deaths. Lucy died in 1910 at the age of 77.

Women in Dentistry Today

According to the American Dental Association’s 2010-11 Survey of Dental Education, female students comprise nearly 46 percent of the total enrollment in U.S. dental schools. The number of practicing female dentists has risen sharply from only 10 percent in 1993 to 22 percent in 2009, and should continue to climb as more women enter the profession.

Lucy Hobbs Taylor is still recognized as a pioneer for women who enter the dental profession. Each year the American Association of Women Dentists recognizes a “Woman Dentist of the Year” in the name of Lucy Hobbs Taylor. The winner must display “outstanding individual achievements in civil, cultural, academic, and professional areas,” and “positively reflect the image of women dentists and commitment to the profession.”

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