Dr. Shaista Rashid stresses that oral health is inseparable from overall well-being. For her, the connection is both professional and deeply personal. Growing up in Pakistan, Rashid watched extended family members lose most of their teeth by their 30s and 40s. While her parents’ military insurance gave her access to dental care, many of her relatives had none. The experience inspired her to pursue dentistry and expand access and education to underserved communities.

“Teeth are part of your body,” said Rashid, assistant clinical dean at A.T. Still University’s

Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health in Kirksville. “They shouldn’t be treated separately.”

Rashid’s journey from Pakistan to St. Louis is part of a larger conversation about representation in dentistry. Women, and especial

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