Dental Association/Foundation Sponsor NYS Veterans Smile Day
All U.S. military veterans qualify for this exciting program, which shows organized dentistry’s commitment to giving back to the men and women who have served their country. It’s patriotic. And it’s completely volunteer-driven.

Veterans Smile Day is a program that encourages dentists to screen and treat veterans (and/or their families) in their offices on a designated day or days on or around Veterans Day (11/11).

General dentists can invite specialists to work with them in their offices. Dentists make diagnoses and determine what treatment they can provide on their designated Veterans Smile Day – nothing more, nothing less, than what you, the volunteering dentist feels, comfortable doing.

What makes Veterans Smile Day unique is that participating dentists determine exactly what they would like to do. They can limit their volunteerism to one day, or extend it to more. They can decide to treat veterans only, or include members of the veterans’ immediate families. They can choose to deliver basic cleaning and examinations, or they can embark upon more comprehensive treatments.

NYSDA/F staff is working with agencies like The American Legion, American Red Cross and Veterans of Foreign Wars to spread the word to veterans in need and to coordinate visits by these veterans to participating dental offices. “Many people don’t realize that, unless they are 100 percent disabled or have service-related injuries to their mouths, our veterans do not receive dental care benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs,” states NYSDF Executive Director Laura Clark Leon. “We are incredibly honored to be able to help deliver oral health care to our men and women in uniform.”
For more information on Veterans Smile Day, including how to get involved, go to www.nysdentalfoundation.org.