Madeleine-Françoise Calais

Madeleine-Françoise Calais (1713 or 1714 - fl. 1740) was a French dentist, and the first female dentist to obtain a license as a master dentist from the Surgical Society of Paris.

Life She was a native of Paris, France. In 1737, when she was twenty-three years old, she was accepted as a student of the dentist Claude Jacquier de Géraudly of Paris. She graduated in 1740. Career In 1740, she wished to practice independently as a dentist and consequently applied for a license as a master dentist from the Surgical Society of Paris when she was twenty-seven years old. She duly passed all required tests of knowledge. She also had good recommendations from her patients. However, the Surgical Society was hesitant to issue a license to practice dentistry. While, in theory, women were not forbidden to practice dentistry, a license had never been issued to a woman before.

She has been referred to as the first female dentist in France, though there are examples of other female healers in 18th-century France. A Mademoiselle de Rezé published a short treatise on a balm to treat toothache, gingival ulcerations, gout and skin eye conditions in 1719 (second edition 1722), a few years before "Le Chirugien Dentiste" by Pierre Fauchard in 1728. However, the profession of dentistry did not become a regulated medical profession until the 19th century.