Amy Johnston (dentist)

Amy Isabella Johnston (5 April 1872–17 September 1908) was a New Zealand dentist and one of the first women in the country to qualify in dentistry.

Early life

Johnston was born in Greymouth, West Coast, New Zealand on 5 April 1872.^[1] She attended Greymouth High School.^[1][2]

Career

Johnston was apprenticed to a dentist in Blenheim, J.F. Wilson in 1893. She passed her dentistry qualifications and was registered in 1896.^[1] She was either the second or third woman in New Zealand to qualify^[2][3] and was one of five registered female dentists at that time.^[1]

She worked with Wilson in Invercargill for about two years but in 1898 bought out Wilson's practice in Blenheim, making it likely that she was the first woman to own a dental practice.^[1] In 1900 she returned to Invercargill and the following year declared herself voluntarily bankrupt as creditors were concerned she had left her business.^[1][4] She continued to practice in Blenheim and Invercargill until 1908 when she died in Invercargill.^[1]