About Esther
A friend of mine recently asked me to make a doll based on a colleague in dentistry education. Her colleague, Dr. Esther M. Wilkins, is now in her mid-90s, and has an amazing history. A pioneer in the field of dentistry, Dr. Wilkins devoted her career to the practice and education of dental medicine. In various stages of her long career, she was founding director of the Dental Hygiene Program at the University of Washington, School of Dentistry in Seattle and Clinical Professor at Tufts in the Department of Periodontology. She also conducted continuing education courses for dental hygienists in every state in the United States and many countries around the world. She is known for writing the widely used textbook “Clinical Practice of the Dental Hygienist,” which has been translated into several languages and is used in dental hygiene schools worldwide.
To help her celebrate, I made the doll with familiar features: Her love of purple, her monogrammed lab coat, her purple framed glasses, and of course, her famous textbook. My friend recently emailed a couple of pictures of Dr. Wilkins as she opened the gift.
How Esther was made
Esther's body is made from 100% organic, natural cotton fabric grown and made in the USA. She wears purple pants and a lavender turtleneck under her cotton, monogrammed lab coat. She has purple wire frame glasses and sturdy black shoes made from felt fabric. The little textbook is a miniature blank book, which many of her former colleagues signed for her special birthday.
