Local dental program helps Carson City vets smile proud

As the old saying goes, "when opportunity knocks, answer the door."

Randy Wright, DDS of Advanced Dentistry by Design in Carson City had little idea who or what was knocking on the other side of his door, let alone the impact he would have, when he answered it in late 2015.

The knock turned out to be from Nevada State Assemblyman PK O'Neill, one of Dr. Wright's patients.

After hearing O'Neill tell the story of 103-year-old World War II U.S. Navy veteran and south Reno resident Frank Minervini, Dr. Wright decided to volunteer his services and donate the needed dental work.

"This man served our country in World War II," O'Neill said. "It's time we serve him back."

O'Neill, for his part, reached out to the Governor's Office and the Nevada Division of Aging and Disability Services.

Word then got to Linda Haigh at the Community Health Alliance in Reno and founder of the Adopt a Vet Dental Program (AAVDP), which arranged to help Minervini access needed dental services.

"Dr. Wright volunteered to do the work," O'Neill said. "I'm very impressed with the way the Governor's Office, the Adopt a Vet Dental Program, and Dr. Wright responded to help Frank out."

As for Dr. Wright, Minervini's case opened his eyes to the resources available for the dental needs of the veteran population.

"I had no idea AAVD existed before this," he said. "AAVD gives me a better platform to help identify needs, especially with our veteran population who may be without care or resources."

Until six years ago, the Adopt a Vet Dental Program did not exist.

Haigh was working at the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2010 preparing to retire when she came to realize the dental care needs of area military veterans, and the lack of low-cost services to the majority of the veteran population.

"I saw how desperately vets needed help," she said. "I had run programs before, but knew nothing about dentistry."

Due to very restrictive policies, only about five percent of the 33,000 veterans enrolled for services through the Sierra Nevada Veterans Administration in Reno qualify for dental care through the VA, Haigh said. This is because a vet must be able to meet one of three specific criteria, she said.

A veteran must either be 100 percent service connected (disabled), or have been injured in the jaw or mouth while in service, or have been a prisoner of war.

The overwhelming majority of veterans do not meet these criteria, Haigh pointed out, and are left to have to pay for dental care themselves.

For low-income veterans, this is simply not possible, she said, and the need for care is clear.

The structures in place before the AAVDP for helping low-income vets access affordable dental care services were unacceptable, Haigh said, and she wanted to do something to change that.

"We have an epidemic of oral health disease among our veterans," Haigh said. "We are part of the solution to get something done for our veterans."

Haigh started AAVDP in Reno as a grass-roots effort from nothing to a working organization dependent solely upon volunteers.

To help get her new program off the ground, Haigh turned to the Northern Nevada Dental Society, which merged with AAVDP to help it take root in the community.

The two organizations later joined forces in 2013 with the Community Health Alliance and its Northern Nevada Dental Health Program, which includes a dental clinic.

Since its inception in 2010, the AAVDP has grown from six dentists providing pro bono dental care services to 110.

This includes 20 Carson City area dentists who have already served 73 veterans with complete dental restoration procedures, Haigh said, and they are currently working with 34 more veterans who have dental cases in progress.

About another 30 veterans in the Carson City area are on the waiting list for services, Haigh said.

"This may not seem like very many," Haigh said. "But when you consider that each restoration can take 4-6 months to complete, that is a lot."

For 45-year-old Carson City resident Ken Collins, his dental restoration case has spanned about 18 months. His dentist, Ben Horgan, DDS of Capital City Dental in Carson City, just fitted Collins with his final partial earlier this month.

Collins, a former lance corporal for the United States Marine Corps and veteran of both Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield, was at a loss for words to describe how completing his dental restoration has made him feel.

"I can honestly tell you there are no words that can describe it," he said. "I can go out in public and smile, and not be embarrassed by my smile."

Collins said when he enrolled in the AAVDP three and a half years ago, there were only 30-40 dentists in the entire region on the list to provide pro bono dental services. As a result, he was on the wait list for two years, Collins said.

Stepping into Dr. Horgan's office for the first time, Collins said he was not expecting the level of care he received.

"When I went in, I was expecting them to just pull my teeth and give me dentures," he said, noting that was the cheaper alternative.

But Dr. Horgan "actually took the time to look at my situation and consider the best course of action, and he gave me the best option," Collins said. "He cared enough to make sure he took care of the veteran in his chair to the best of his ability."

Collins said he had no enamel left on his teeth, due in part to treated drinking water consumed during his deployment to the Middle East. His molars were also chipped away to gum line, he said.

"I had no teeth to eat with and my front teeth were starting to go as well," Collins said.

His poor dental health contributed to poor overall health, too, Collins added.

"Because of how bad my teeth were, there were toxins and acids reaching into my system," Collins said. "I was really pale, and I'd get sick easier."

Since receiving a whole new set of teeth, though, Collins said so much in his life has changed for the better.

"I'm now healthier, more active, and my disposition is brighter," he said. "I feel like a whole new person."

Collins said he is grateful for the care that Dr. Horgan and his staff showed him, and thankful for the services available through the Adopt A Vet Dental Program.

"I have a strong appreciation for the dentists doing the work," he said. "The Adopt A Vet Dental Program helps vets feel they are acknowledged and cared for."

For his part, Dr. Horgan said he was happy to help Collins out and provide the needed dental services. He has been a part of the AAVDP for about three years, and averages about one veteran patient per month through the pro bono program.

"I enjoy doing it," Dr. Horgan said. "There are tons of people in need, and you want to find ways to give back. There doesn't seem to be a more deserving group of people than veterans."

Dr. Horgan said getting appropriate dental care is an important part of a military veteran's health care, because dental problems can and do lead to other more serious health conditions if left untreated.

"Some of these patients are in constant pain with abscesses in their mouths and swallowing pus on a daily basis," he said. "They also don't have the teeth to chew their food properly, and this leads to greater digestive problems."

Dr. Horgan said the AAVDP handles all of the organizing, scheduling and administrative tasks for his office, so all he has to concentrate on is just doing the dental work.

"The beauty of the program is that I can give back, and I don't have to be the ultimate decision maker in the program," he said. "The folks that organize the program do a great job, and they make everything much easier for me."

Haigh said she sees a growing need for veteran dental care in Northern Nevada's rural counties. So much so that AAVDP now provides services to military veterans in ten Nevada counties.

Carson City is one of those counties where there is not only an identified need, but Haigh said she sees a great deal of support generated from the state capital, too.

"Carson City is very, very unique," Haigh said. "It is a very close knit community."

Dr. Horgan agrees.

He said that several dentists in Carson City are veterans themselves, so he is not at all surprised about the level of local participation in the AAVDP.

"I grew up in Carson City, and have lived most of my life here," he said, noting that the 20 dentists currently signed up with the AAVDP represent about two-thirds of the dental providers in town. "I feel like we have a particularly good group of dental professionals in the area."

To ensure the program ran smoothly in Carson City and provided sufficient support to the dentists participating here, Haigh named Brenda Horton of the Vietnam Veterans of American, Chapter 388, the AAVDP local case coordinator.

The VVA 388 has also organized, on behalf of the AAVDP in Carson City, an annual poker run fundraiser to raise money for veteran dental care needs, Haigh said.

"The support from the Carson City community has been incredible," she said.

But as dental care needs continue to grow, Haigh said she finds her organization continues to find its own areas of need as well.

"We have 18 months to get 210 vets through our program," she said. "But, unfortunately, we don't have the administration to go with that."

Haigh said that while the AAVDP has grown over the past six years, its growth has not been able to keep up with the increased need for dental care services among the region's veteran population.

Just this month, however, the William N. Pennington Foundation in Reno awarded a grant to the AAVDP that will ensure its current case backlog is freed, and veterans on the waiting list for dental care services will be taken care of without the long wait.

When the program was first founded, “we were able to keep up by pairing veterans with individual pro-bono dentists in the community,” said Haigh. “However, as more and more veterans ... were denied dental care by the VA and started calling AAVD and seeking help, the amount in need has just multiplied. ... This funding will allow us to completely eliminate our backlog and we are grateful for this one-time opportunity.”

The grant will get 210 area veterans off the waiting list for services, and address their dental needs more timely.

“The William N. Pennington Foundation grant will not only be helping these 210 veterans get their smiles back, but it will also positively contribute to their overall health –- physical, mental and emotional alike –- and bring them new life,” Haigh said.

Haigh also said the AAVDP could really benefit from more corporate sponsorships.

"We really need more funds to help us with our clinic, and our entire program," she said.

Still, the response from the dental community has been very strong in just the past few years; especially in Carson City.

Local Carson area dentists, in particular, have stepped up in the kind of numbers and in ways Haigh never expected.

More than $112,000 in pro bono dental care services has been donated by Carson City dentists in the past five years. The AAVDP began its outreach in the state capital in 2011.

"They 've been so gracious, so wonderful in wanting to help us with our veterans," she said. "They will do whatever it takes to get that veteran fixed up. They really go all out for our veterans."

The AAVDP is one of a kind in the region, and in the state, Haigh said. It may even be unique to the rest of the country, too.

"To our kowledge, no other program has the dentists going to the same pro bono level that we have," she said.

In September 2014, the AAVDP received a $37,000 national award at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., from Newman's Own and the Fisher House for its innovative program.

"It only continues to succeed because of our community," Haigh said. "They care enough to help our veterans."