From leading new offices to legal settlements, here are 12 female dentists making headlines so far this year:
1. Ussa Bunnag, DDS, called for transparency and clarity in early January regarding when dentists could expect to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
2. Dr. Vanessa Creaven, a dentist from Ireland, warned the public against making DIY dentures out of InstaMorph beads after a viral TikToker did just that.
3. Haritha Sambaraju, DDS, leads Chicago-based Aspen Dental's new office in Plano, Texas.
4. Brighton, Mass.-based Amity Dental Center and Christina Hsu, DDS, agreed to settle allegations that they refused to accept MassHealth members seeking treatment.
5. Louvenia Rainge, DMD, became the first Black female president of the Georgia Dental Association.
6. Kathleen O'Loughlin, DMD, executive director for the American Dental Association, discussed the future of women in dentistry.
7. Lori Anderson, DDS, a Phoenix-based dentist, is offering to deliver and administer COVID-19 vaccines at local households.
8. Misako Hirota, DMD, shared her perspectives on teledentistry with Becker's.
9. Julia Hallisy, DDS, a San Francisco-based dentist, said she feels teledentistry has a significant role to play in dental health as a new and evolving care delivery model that needs structure, oversight and ongoing revisions.
10. Washington dentists Michelle Steinhubel, DDS, and Amy Norman, DDS, shared how the shortage of dental hygienists and assistants is affecting their practices.
11. Chicago-based Aspen Dental opened its 13th practice in the state of Maryland, which is led by Bindu Vemaraju, DDS.
12. Oksana Boyechko, DMD, told Becker's what things were going well at and what keeps her up at night.