ADA Foundation’s Give Veterans A Smile launches at SmileCon
‘It’s an honor to serve those who have served us’
The ADA Foundation’s Give Veterans A Smile program launched Oct. 18 during SmileCon in New Orleans.
The program aims to raise awareness about the unmet oral health needs of veterans and encourage dentists to provide pro bono oral health care to veterans and assist them in finding a dental home.
“Veterans have given so much to this country, and it’s our responsibility to give back, starting with their health,” said ADA President Linda J. Edgar, D.D.S., who grew up in a military family and is married to a service member.
The mainstage session Give Veterans A Smile: Engage, Educate, Empower brought attendees together to learn about the access-to-care issues veterans face and what the American Dental Association and ADA Foundation are doing to address them.
“Through the ADA Foundation’s Give Veterans A Smile initiative and our advocacy efforts with lawmakers, we are making a real difference,” Dr. Edgar said. “It’s an honor to serve those who have served us. When veterans receive the dental care they need, it positively impacts their overall health and quality of life. That’s why this work matters so very much.”
Ret. U.S. Army Col. Theresa S. Gonzales, D.M.D., the winner of this year’s ADA Distinguished Service Award, moderated the session.
“More than defending our freedoms at home and abroad, our 19 million or so veterans teach us a great deal about service,” Dr. Gonzales said. “They show us that service is not an action; rather, service is a way of life. They bring this perspective of selfless service from their individual campaigns and deployments back home to our communities.”
Panelists included Annaliese Cothron, D.H.Sc., co-founder and executive director of the American Institute of Dental Public Health; Leigh Kent, D.D.S., Ph.D., chair of the ADA Council on Government Affairs; Michele Tulak-Gorecki, D.D.S., ADA 9th District trustee and chair of the ADA Foundation; Christine LaMarre, D.D.S., assistant under secretary for health for dentistry at the Veterans Health Administration; and U.S. Army Col. Paul M. Colthirst, D.D.S., commander of the Dental Health Command-Pacific. U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, D.M.D., R-Ga., who practiced dentistry for 25 years, also offered remarks at the start of the session.
Give Veterans A Smile was born out of a desire to build on the success of the ADA Foundation’s Give Kids A Smile program — which has helped more than 7 million underserved children — to support other vulnerable populations, Dr. Tulak-Gorecki said.
According to data provided by Dr. LaMarre, of the slightly more than 9 million veterans enrolled in VA health care, about 2.2 million, or 24%, are eligible for comprehensive dental care. About 750,000 veterans receive VA dental services.
“The vision of Give Veterans A Smile is to ensure quality oral health care for all of our veterans. How will Give Veterans A Smile fulfill this vision?” Dr. Tulak-Gorecki said. “We want to raise awareness and ask our profession to take action by encouraging dentists to provide pro bono health services to underserved veterans in need during a one-day, or perhaps a multi-day, screening process and then offer to serve as their dental home or refer them to a dental facility that can eventually become their dental home.”
To learn more about Give Veterans A Smile, visit adafoundation.org/gvas.
