Challenges faced by women in dentistry
The first reports on surgeries appeared in Europe, during the 12th and 13th centuries. It was essentially a male activity performed by itinerant barbers (yes, those who shaved - and also extracted teeth). Some centuries later, surgery began to be studied in more depth, when doctors were trained in large teaching centers, dedicated exclusively to men. At the beginning of the 19th century, we found the first reports of female surgeons. These, often, pretended to be men or practiced in hiding.
With regard to the 21st century, a survey released by IFL Science shows that patients operated by surgeons are 12% less likely to die in the 30 days following the operation than those who have been operated on by men. They are more careful. However, the picture is still weary for surgeons, whose number of women professionals is below 30%, in all different specialties.
But why is this percentage so low? A study by the Division of Vascular Surgery, St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Canada, shows that, in addition to the lack of female models to be followed, the environment in medical residences is still essentially male, making up about 25% of women women who enter a residence end up dropping out of the course, because they feel neglected in relation to male colleagues, in attitudes of sexual discrimination from their own fellow students or patients.
Another study by St. Michael’s Hospital also shows that female surgeons earn about 25% less than men, for the same procedures. The UN shows that, in all professions, women continue to earn less than men, exercising the same functions, reaching a 23% salary difference. According to data from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), in general, in Brazil, women earn, on average, 76% of male remuneration.
With regard to Dentistry, in Brazil, according to data from the Federal Council of Dentistry (CFO), about 55% of dentists are women. However, when they leave general practice to enter a surgery residency, the percentage drops. Of the 6,122 professionals specialized in Oral Maxillofacial Surgery and Traumatology, 4,693 are men and 1,429 are women, equivalent to 23% of the total.
The resident of Dentistry at the University of Pernambuco, Barbara Gurgel, exemplifies the difficulties encountered. She says that, in addition to the challenges of implementing decisions about diagnosis and surgery, “being a woman is another obstacle. We must always be fighting for space and respect on the part of colleagues and patients ”, she says.
For the also resident, Thaísa Spinelli, the reality is not very different. For her, entering the course “is not an easy decision, the environment can often be hostile, the workload is heavy, and many need to give up their family or children to dedicate themselves to residency, this is not an easy task. For me it is fascinating to see the representativeness of women in surgery, we are occupying more and more space in professions that before were predominantly represented by men ”, she says.
In addition, there is a shortage of women in the area, which means that the few women who work in surgery are discriminated against. “The views of both the public and health professionals for surgeons are always different. There is always a predilection, albeit veiled, by men, in such minimal things as: if you have a male resident and a female resident, the medical records are always handed over to men. I already heard from a patient: “Dr. why don't you do it instead? " And that made me very upset because it came from a WOMAN patient ... so, although the number of women within the CTBMF specialty has been growing, there are still many prejudices and differences to be overcome both by professional colleagues and patients ”, she reports .
Spinelle's clinical experience also reinforces the existence of profit on the part of patients, which makes the work of a surgeon difficult. “Sometimes patients are doubtful when they know that the person who is going to perform the surgical procedure is a woman, especially if it is under local anesthesia where they are awake, they have already asked me in the office if I would have enough strength to remove third molars (laughs). I try to allow these judgments not to cause me anguish, I believe that we need to incorporate new values in society, that open up more space for female empowerment. And that only becomes possible with the representation of the genre ”, she says.
But Gurgel is confident in the egalitarian future: “I believe that all of this is part of a process that has already started to be built. In the beginning, this specialty was basically formed by men, today we already have a much larger number of women, which already helps us to build a more effective space in the specialty. Other factors such as class unity and respect are very important and this could be “reversed” in invitations to conferences and lectures given by women, events made and lectured by women from CTBMF ”, she points out.
Spinelle is even more emphatic with regard to the need to open up more space for women. “We need to encourage women to enter the field of surgery, show that our reality has changed and we have gained more and more space to develop our potential at Bucomaxilo”, encourages the resident.
With regard to basic training for dentists, the routine is no different. Despite being a more equal quantity, reaching 50% of men and women, men continue to have the preference in clinics focused on surgery. Aesthetics are up to women and when they seek the surgical area, they are always overlooked, by the teachers themselves, in relation to men. However, the reality has slowly changed with an increase in the number of teachers in the undergraduate course, which make it possible for women to have more chances, although they still have to fight more for their own space, proving that they are capable, while men only say what they want.
Source: Sanar Saúde. Available at: https://www.sanarsaude.com/portal/carreiras/artigos-noticias/colunista-odontologia-mulheres-cirurgias-os-desafios-da-falta-de-representatividade. Access on: 03/24/2021.