The oldest dental school in the country -- the University of Maryland -- is here in Baltimore.
The National Museum of Dentistry is here.
And now, the first international dentistry fraternity is in the neighborhood, too.
"This is dentistry city," said Roger J. Spott, president of Alpha Omega, the international fraternity of Jewish dentists, which dedicated its new headquarters in Pikesville yesterday.
Minutes later, a gathering of about 100 fraternity members and their spouses -- some from overseas -- watched as Dr. Spott of Potomac affixed a mezuza to the outer door frame of the second-floor office suite, signaling the fraternity's arrival in its new home.
Or more precisely, its return to an old home.
Alpha Omega was founded in Baltimore in 1907 by a group of Jewish dental students who, because of anti-Semitism, were barred from joining other dental fraternities.
A little more than 40 years ago, the organization moved to New York, but the high expenses there prompted Alpha Omega's officers to start looking for new quarters. In April, they came back to the Baltimore area.
Today, Alpha Omega has 15,000 members, and 20 percent of them live overseas. (There are petitions for new chapters in France and Hungary.) It has a paid staff of three.
The organization still resists discrimination. It has on occasion reminded other dental societies not to schedule conventions on Jewish holidays and reminded dental schools to remember Jewish observances.
But Alpha Omega's main contribution in recent years has been in philanthropy. Its foundation has given more than $10 million in aid to dental schools, scholarships and research grants.
Its financial support and fund raising enabled Israel to open two dental schools, one at Tel Aviv University and the other at Hebrew University. Alpha Omega also has participated in international relief efforts, helping to teach dental care to children in such places as Morocco and Hungary.
In addition to humanitarian motivations, those relief efforts, many aimed at non-Jewish populations, are intended to portray Jews as good international citizens. "As communism has fallen, there has been a rise in anti-Semitism," said Joseph Jacobs, chairman of the Alpha Omega Foundation. "We're trying to demonstrate to those populations that we care."