Cynthia K. Brattesani, DDS ’89 : A Visionary Leader Transforming Dentistry

Breaking Barriers in Dentistry

From age 10, Cynthia Brattesani wanted to be a dentist. Her brother, who was three years older, declared one day that he would become a dentist, and she would work as his assistant – for free. She agreed then, but when she got to high school and fell in love with science, she thought, Why can’t I go all the way? A mighty force with unwavering determination, she achieved whatever she set her mind on. As an undergraduate, she’d park her car on a hill near UCSF and stare longingly at its buildings, holding tightly to her dentistry dream, which she achieved in 1989 when she graduated from the UCSF School of Dentistry and eventually opened a San Francisco dental practice.

A Trusted Voice on Oral Health

“Back in the ’70s, only 1% of dentists were women, and today it has reached 38%,” says Brattesani, who played an instrumental role in this transformation. She served as a “women’s spokesperson” for the American Dental Association and became, at the time, only the second woman to serve as president of the San Francisco Dental Society, challenging the profession’s gender norms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Dental Association selected her to represent the organization in the media. Brattesani was also an early adopter of technology before digital dentistry became mainstream; her innovative approaches set her practice apart and positioned her as an industry leader.

Empowering Future Dentists

In addition to managing her practice and mentoring young professionals, Brattesani shares her experiences through speaking engagements at regional dental schools. It’s one more example of how she continues to chip away at the glass ceiling for women in dentistry. “A lot of the women today in my generation feel that we did break that ceiling, but we did even more,” she says. “We cleared the shards that were up there so that everybody could pass through so much more easily.”