Angela Pack

Angela Rosalind Creighton Pack (born 9 July 1943) is a New Zealand retired periodontist and academic. Pack trained in London before emigrating to New Zealand in 1972, where she joined the Department of Periodontology at the University of Otago. Pack advocated for women in the dental profession, and led the introduction of dental hygienists to New Zealand. Pack was the first woman president of the Australia and New Zealand Division of the International Association for Dental Research. She was the first female fellow of the New Zealand Dental Association, and was awarded honours by the IADR and the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Periodontology.

Early life and education Pack was born in 1943 in Edgware, England. Her parents were both teachers, and she was an only child. Pack says she became interested in becoming a surgeon after being allowed to examine discarded herring heads in her mother's kitchen. At the age of twelve, Pack spent a week observing her uncle, a dentist with a practice in Yorkshire, performing extractions, anaesthesia and restorations. She set her mind on becoming a dentist. Pack took the opportunity to tour periodontal departments in America, Canada and Scandinavia, and was elected as a member of the American Academy of Periodontology. The proportion of women gradually increased to the point that the Dental Faculty were concerned about the possible impacts on the profession of women leaving to get married or have children. Pack was asked to research the issue, and presented a paper at the 1981 NZ Dental Association conference. She described many cases of discrimination against women from their male colleagues, and published papers on the treatment of women dentists. Pack advocated for changes to the Act, but a 1989 amendment did not use the word 'hygienist' and, although it allowed for 'auxiliary' dental workers, it did not prescribe their training. Unable to persuade the Dean of the Dental School, Martin Kean, to introduce training for hygienists, Pack arranged for the Otago Polytechnic to take on the work, with the first dental hygienists graduating in 1995. Pack was promoted to Associate Professor at the university in 1986, and was head of department in 1993. The same year, she received the Alan Docking Science Award from the IADR, and was elected as the first female fellow of the New Zealand Dental Association. Pack's hobbies include choral singing, country dancing and gardening.

Selected works