DifferentKind was formed with intention to transform the dental industry through the predictive powers of patient voice, team voice and shared learning. And in return, the women of the dental industry have intentionally helped us! Here’s what we knew about women in dental going into building and launching our product:
- Women make somewhere in 75-80% of all health decisions for their family, and are often the trusted voice of counsel for many of the other 25%.
- 98% of dental hygienists in the USA identify as female.
- We now have more women enrolled than men in US dental schools.
We are so lucky that our company has been so well-received by women, as seen in the Fabric of Female in our patient experience software stats:
- Alison Carlman, Director of Evidence and Learning at Global Giving, has been on our advisory board since the early days, representing the patient, the parent of little patients, and the person.
- 8 out of 30 of our 1st users are female independent registered dental hygienists spanning 3 countries.
- We have other early customers from the non-profit and private practice worlds with strong female leadership, influencing important policies at the state and national levels, both inside and outside of organized dentistry.
- Multiple female leaders in dentistry have graciously had our backs, provided input, lifted our emerging company, and offered sage advice.
My story: I have been sometimes overwhelmed with gratitude, awe, and respect I feel for all of these women. I was lucky enough to be the daughter and the step-daughter of entrepreneurial women, and met like-minded women along the course of my career who invested time in me. I lived SEEHER. I try to give this back, personally and professionally.
At DifferentKind, we #seeher, we want to hear her more, we want to lift, inspire and support her. It takes a village, and my male co-founders are 100% onboard. Here’s to closing out Women’s History Month with our gratitude and respect! #womenentrepreneurs #womenindso #womenindental #womeninmedtech
PS. It is not our intent to be gender-defining, gender-exclusive or neglect others with this post. It is, however, important to highlight one of the defining aspects of our journey at DifferentKind- there are few female co-founders in health tech, and even fewer in the dental space, and we are particularly proud of our early customers, collaborators, advisors, friends and colleagues!
