Georgetown University School of Dentristry in 1930

Another brief blog post due to the looming deadline of my latest book, Lost Washington.  It will be done soon!

This interesting picture appeared in my book on the history of Georgetown University with co-author Paul O'Neill.  Dis you know that GU had a school of dentistry?  Thousands of DC residents could visit to have dental needs taken care of at little to no cost: if you trusted a young practicing school student.        

This 1930 photograph shows a multitude of "Ritter" equipment in the Dental Infirmary, part of the new Medical School building.  Georgetown's Dental School began in 1901 when the Washington Dental School was acquired and integrated into Georgetown's Medical School.  A decision to close the Dental School — the largest private dental school in the nation at the time — was made in 1987 because of a looming "financial disaster" and fears that the school's quality would deteriorate as the number of students going into dentistry plummeted nationwide.