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Nationwide event to provide free dental care to Iowa veterans
Michaela Ramm
May. 20, 2018 7:12 pm
Eastern Iowa dental clinics will be participating in an event this June to provide free care for area veterans.
On Saturday, June 9, area clinics - including those in Cedar Rapids, Coralville and Waterloo - will be participating in the fifth annual Aspen Dental Day of Service, a volunteer-driven event in which hundreds of participating clinics nationwide will offer free dental care to veterans, a subset of the population that often struggles to find adequate care.
The thought behind Aspen Dental's initiative is to 'make this our thank-you in the best way we know how to our country's veterans, and that's by giving them a healthy mouth,” said Kathy Dwyer, Aspen Dental director of external communications.
Dwyer said the community initiative started about five years ago, after officials at Aspen Dental discovered the struggle some veterans face finding oral health care.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in order for a veteran to qualify for full VA dental benefits, the individuals must have been a prisoner of war, have a service-related mouth injury or must be '100 percent disabled” - a VA benefits qualification meaning the veteran is unable to maintain employment because of the disability.
'Often, they have not received care in many years,” Dwyer said. 'Some have not had dental care since they were active members of the military.”
She added, 'what's amazing is that so many people put off going to the dentist until it's interfering completely with their quality of life. They are in extreme pain, some cannot chew, they just eat soup. It's really heartbreaking.”
In response, Aspen Dental established the Healthy Mouth Movement, an initiative launched by the corporation in 2014 to provide dental care and oral health education that spurred events such as the annual Day of Service.
According to a news release on the event, approximately 17,000 veterans and other individuals in need have received more than $10 million in dental care since the initiative was founded.
Across the country, about 450 Aspen Dental clinics will participate in the June 9 event.
There will be 10 clinics participating in Iowa, Dwyer said. These include the locations in Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Davenport, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Marshalltown, Muscatine, Sioux City, Waterloo, and West Burlington.
Dwyer said dentists and their teams, which provide care on a volunteer basis, saw about 4,600 veterans nationwide during the 2017 event. They hope to see at least 5,000 this year.
Those interested in attending must call ahead to book an appointment at (844) 277-3646.
Dwyer said teams will try to keep appointments to 30 minutes in order to see as many people as possible.
'What we'll do on that day is we'll take care of their most urgent need, make sure they're out of pain and that they get the most important thing taken care of,” Dwyer said.
This can include fillings or extractions.
'If it can be done in a dentist's office, we can do it,” she said.
However, if further dental work is required for the individual, Dwyer said the clinics will provide coordinate free or low-cost follow-up care at another organization in the area.
For more information on the Health Mouth movement, visit aspendental.com/about/healthy-mouth-movement.
l Comments: (319) 368-8536; michaela.ramm@thegazette.com
If You Go
What:
Aspen Dental Day of Service
When:
Saturday, June 9 at 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where:
At participating Eastern Iowa clinics
l Cedar Rapids - 2315 Edgewood Road SW, Suite 160
l Coralville - 1810 N Coral St., Suite A
l Dubuque - 3432 Dodge St., Suite 102
l Waterloo - 2765 Crossroads Blvd.
Cost:
Free
Advanced appointments are required. Local veterans interested in signing up for a spot during the June 9 event should call (844) 277-3646 or schedule an appointment at a participating office.