About Us
Who We Are
Diversity In Dentistry Mentorships, Inc. (DIDM) aims to improve the pathway for historically underrepresented students from middle to dental school through mentorship, education, hands-on experiences, and awards tailored for youth and pre-dental students. We do this through two signature programs:
1. Diversify Dentistry Youth Summits™ identifies and empowers students to explore the oral health profession.
2. Our Virtual Mentorship program for pre-dental students offers personalized guidance and resources to help them become competitive dental school applicants. We distinguish ourselves by providing one-on-one mentorship to support this goal.
Our mission is to empower underrepresented youth to explore dentistry and mentor pre-dental students, cultivating a diverse dental workforce that drives health equity and improves oral health access for all communities.
Our Founder
Dr. Laila B. Hishaw
Dr. Laila Hishaw has been keeping the smiles of her patients healthy for over two decades but what she loves more are the kids behind the smiles. She recognizes she is more than a doctor who just fixes teeth, she is a role model and mentor to children and future dentists. Dr. Hishaw is one of only 3.8% of Black dentists in America, strongly believes representation matters, and that children will want to emulate that which they see in their lives. She decided something needed to be done to change this statistic and her passion project has grown into a nonprofit organization.
Dr. Hishaw created the Diversity in Dentistry Mentorships to educate, empower, and mentor African American youth and other underrepresented minorities to dentistry. Her goal is to show them dentistry is a rewarding career and an attainable goal early on in life, getting them on the right educational path to be successful candidates for dental school and ultimately, valuable leaders in the profession of dentistry. She feels it is incumbent on dentists to nurture and bring up the next generation of leaders in the field. To continue this movement, net proceeds from her Amazon Bestseller, CAVITY FREE KIDS: How to Care for Your Kids’ Teeth From Birth Through Their Teenage Years, will go toward programming for Diversity in Dentistry Mentorships.
Dr. Hishaw received her doctorate in dental surgery from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and her specialty certificate in pediatric dentistry from UT Health Science–San Antonio and is a board-certified pediatric dentist and the founding partner of Tucson Smiles Pediatric Dentistry in Tucson, AZ where she lives with her husband and three children.
