James H. (Jay) McCarl, D.D.S, has retired after practicing dentistry for more than 40 years. He joined the McCarl family dental practice in 1984 after earning a dental degree from the University of Maryland Dental School. The practice started in 1924 when James W. McCarl, Jay’s grandfather, opened an office in the family home near Baltimore. He moved to Greenbelt in 1938 (see the September 19, 2024, issue of the News Review). Grandsons Jay, his brother Clayton, Jr., and their cousin David McCarl, became the third generation of McCarl dentists, expanding the practice in 2001 when they opened a second office in Millersville.
Career of Service
Outside the office, Dr. Jay made a few service trips to the Dominican Republic and Haiti years ago, and in 2022 went to Poland to provide dental care for Ukrainian refugees. He and the three assistants who accompanied him worked in a convention center in Warsaw where refugees were processed. He also has volunteered with the Mid-Atlantic Burn Group and tutored and mentored Annapolis schoolchildren with Seeds 4 Success. He plans to remain active in his retirement.
Local Boy
Dr. Jay has had strong ties to Greenbelt throughout his life. In addition to practicing here his entire career, he was born in Greenbelt, worked for Public Works in high school and married a Greenbelt girl, the former Kim Scheibel; both his birth and marriage were announced in the News Review.
In January, Tommy Lam, D.D.S., who worked part-time for the McCarl Dental Group over the past five years, will join the practice as a full-time dentist.
