“如果您必须选择超级英雄来描述您在牙科中的道路，那么您会选择哪种超级英雄？”
Peggy O’Neill, PhD ’74, DDS ’90, contemplated the seemingly odd question posed to her by the moderator during the Women in Dentistry: Reflections of the Past and Present event panel at UTHealth School of Dentistry. Then an answer came to mind—one that would honor her fellow panelists and other women in oral health car
“神奇女侠，”她说。
O'Neill的牙科学院和MD Anderson Uthealth研究生院的Uthealth校友是Emerita教授，也是牙科学院患者护理的前院长。现在，奥尼尔（O’Neill）在德克萨斯大学休斯顿大学退休人员组织的董事会成立，继续在牙科领域留下自己的印记。
Her answer serves as an apt description of the school’s female students, alumni, staff, and faculty, who fight to protect oral health in our communities while often balancing the responsibilities of work and family life.
牙科小组的妇女实际上是在2020年9月举行的，是学校认识并鼓励这些杰出妇女的方式之一。小组成员包括Sarah Arafat，DDS ’17；Amber Lovatos，BSDH '13，RDH；Mai-Tram Nguyen，DDS ’91；凯西·奥基夫（Kathy O’Keefe），DDS ’85;和玛丽·里格斯·帕滕（Mary Riggs Patten），DDS ’78。
Arafat, now a first-year resident in the school’s Advanced Education in Pediatric Dentistry Program, exemplifies the strength of Women in Dentistry. As a first-generation American and the first in her family to attend a higher education professional school, she says there have been lots of unknowns, but she has been able to succeed with the help of female role models, including School of Dentistry faculty.
阿拉法特说：“当我看到其他女性成功并意识到这是可能的时，我就会蓬勃发展。没有我一生中有很多导师，我就无法做到这一切。”
不幸的是，女性并不总是很容易获得专业女性指导。根据美国牙科协会的数据，2001年，在美国，只有16％的牙医是女性。但是，这个数字一直在稳步上升，现在约为33％。牙科学院的积极趋势高于全国平均水平。该学校的近一半（以及所有牙科学生中有一半都超过一半）是女性。
“For those of us later in our careers, I think it is a very important part of our responsibility to support younger women who are coming behind us—to encourage them, to show them the ropes, to let them know what’s available and how to get where they want to be,” adds O’Neill, who worked as a research technician in the 1960s before pursuing doctoral degrees from MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School and, later, the School of Dentistry.
“我一生中有一些最好的导师是女性，”牙科学院院长约翰·A·瓦伦扎（John A. Valenza），DDS ’81，他将奥尼尔（O’Neill）列为自己的榜样。“没有他们，我不会在哪里。”
As O’Neill reflected on the imagery of superheroes at the Women in Dentistry panel, she imparted a few words of advice to her fellow wonder women of oral health: “Women need to foster and encourage each other to get out there and take that next step. If you are Wonder Woman—and I think my students and colleagues are wonder women—then get out there, jump right in, and do it.”
从牙痛到可教的时刻
洛瓦托斯说：“您听到儿童因蛀牙而失踪学校，那是我。”
She remembers once visiting the dentist with her mother after experiencing pain for days, only to be taken home without treatment because her parents could not afford the cost. She recalls how her mother used home remedies instead, putting ground cloves in the hole in her tooth, and how she waited for months for the pain to ease.
年儿童的口腔卫生不当导致complications in adulthood as well, resulting in tooth extractions, fillings, root canals, crowns, and periodontal treatment.
Her poor dental care as a child—stemming from a lack of education about oral health, prevention, and available resources—now drives her passion for oral health care.
她说：“我成为牙科卫生员，因为我认为教育是关键。”“我还认为，让提供者说与患者相同的语言有助于提高患者的依从性和理解。”
Lovatos组织各种社区外展活动，包括口腔筛查，牙科护理日和教育活动，以教口腔卫生。
正是这种渴望帮助他人的愿望，除了对金融安全的需求之外，她十几岁的时候就把她带到了科学领域。今天，她是第一代大学毕业生，成功的职业生涯，充满爱心的丈夫和两个少年儿子。
她说：“我的坚韧和为这些目标设定目标和努力的能力（即使我一路上失败）确实帮助我到达了自己的位置。”“我也很幸运能够拥有一个非常好的专业人士网络，他们支持我。”
反过来，她鼓励她的科学妇女在世界上留下自己的印记。
她说：“知道您有一些贡献，其他人也有一些收益。”“不要错过机会，因为您害怕或缺乏信心。唯一怀疑你的人就是你。”
现在展望未来，她很高兴继续为他人服务，并确保其他孩子由于牙痛等问题而不必错过学校。
她说：“无论是通过公开演讲，我的社区宣传工作，还是向其他专业人员灌输回馈社区的热情，我都想继续产生影响。”