International Women's Day
We are delighted to share with you the experiences of our three female committee members working in the dental industry!
Eimear O'Connell
Immediate Past President
Eimear is leading the way for women in dentistry. She was the first woman to ever be President of the Association of Dental Implantology and works hard to promote women in dentistry in Scotland, England, and Wales. She was also the first female dentist in the UK to gain her implant diploma from The Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh.
There are only a few female implant dentists in the UK and even fewer as successful as Eimear, which means she is well known and well respected by her peers. She is a warm and reassuring dentist who builds excellent, long-term relationships with her patients.
Eimear received her dental degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1992, and she has run her own private dental practice in Edinburgh since 1996.
She received her MFGDP and FFGDP from the Royal College of Surgeons London and her Diploma of Implant Dentistry from the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. She is currently the committee member for Scotland.
In 2014 Eimear also won a UK business award from Software of Excellence as well as winning Best Overall Practice in Scotland. In 2015 her practice won the Best Patient Care award. Eimear is an international speaker and opinion leader for Dentsply Sirona and she is especially interested in digital dentistry. She has been using Cerec technology since 2008 and believes the increased success of her practice has much to do with the implementation of digital dentistry.
Outside of dentistry, Eimear coaches and plays hockey and she loves sailing and skiing. Eimear has 3 daughters, which is why she is so passionate about helping women in dentistry.
Linzy Baker
DCP Representative
"When I was asked to write about my experience as a woman in the profession I started to think of any hardships I may have had in getting to this point in my career but all I can think of are the strong empowering women (and men) I surround myself with today.
I have of course had battles along the way and constantly strive to prove myself ’worthy’ within the dental world but by removing the negativity and having a great support network around me this is often now easier than it once was.
Through my experiences I make sure to pass on the advice, knowledge and support to empower the women around me to stand up for themselves, grow and achieve what they dream to do or be.
Women supporting women is a powerful thing.”
Joanna Sutcliffe
Regional Representative for South West England
"They say we ladies can have it all! We have grown up being told that we can do anything…. And we can! I love my job as a dentist and am passionate about my profession. We have a great representation in the profession but sometimes, trying to push personal skill boundaries takes tenacity and a lot more effort it seems.. to me anyway! Balancing work, raising a family and pushing forward in the field of dental implants is a challenge.
I started out 'dipping my toe' in the field of implants. Being a restorative dentist with some previous oral surgery experience, I realised that to have ultimate control, I needed to have more specialist knowledge. Even after obtaining further education in the field, I 'plopped' out of the other end and found limited support in the big scary world of dental implants. My experience was that everyone around appeared to be pressing ahead and I was holding back, slightly unsure and wanting to get it right. When I attend local implant meetings, there still seems to me to be an under-representation of ladies.
Trying to find support for my implant journey was difficult; the stakes seemed higher than for general dentistry and the fear of making mistakes was holding me back. Luckily, I reached out and found someone who helped me when it was all too easy to give up.
I feel that we ladies would benefit from a support network where a safe space exists to discuss cases and learn from each other without fear or the need for the bravado that I see around me in a 'man's world'.
The ADI is a way of connecting us all together and providing camaraderie in a field where sometimes, just a friendly word of support can make the difference between you giving it a go or throwing in the towel as it's all too much. The ADI has helped me connect with dentists at all levels in their implant career and I certainly feel that increasing the 'pink' in the sea of 'blue' can only be a good thing. I have met many ladies who have succeeded in this field and they are the ambassadors for us all - let's stick together.”