Vimla Sood (1922 – 1 August 2021) was the first woman to become a dentist in undivided India. She graduated from the De'Montmorency College of Dentistry in 1944.[1]
Sood was the only woman out of 30 students in her class at the DeMontmorency College of Dentistry in Lahore.[2] She graduated University of the Punjab in 1944.[3] Her family were all doctors, and encouraged her to become a dentist. She moved to New York for an internship and travelled America, completing a master's degree in Pediatric Dentistry in 1955 at the University of Minnesota.[4] After partition, Sood moved to Chandigarh.
Sood worked in Wellingdon Hospital (now Ram Manohar Lohia), where she used to visit villages in a mobile van. She later joined Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research.
In November 2016 she arranged a White Coat Ceremony for dental college students swearing their professional oath.[5]
Sood died on 1 August 2021, at the age of 99.[6]
Sood was recognised by the Indian Dental Association as senior respected faculty; she was honored by IDA Chandigarh on Teachers Day, 5 September 2020.[7] She was also recognized by the faculty of Dr. Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences & Hospital and her life was celebrated with a video.[8] at the event.[4] [2]