VA Dental Care for Vets

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VA Dental Care for Vets

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As many vets know, the VA doesn't provide dental care except for emergency care (which is nothing more than pulling teeth) and for the 100% service connected disabled. However, poor dental health can cause serous health issues, including heart disease. It's time we start putting pressure on the VA healthcare system to cover ALL service connected disabled vets, at the very least. It's sad in this day and age that they'll pay for major operations but not even cleanings, fillings or crowns for most vets.

What can we do? We can complain to the Patient Advocates Office at your local VA, we can write our representatives and/or start petitions demanding changes. There are also many NGOs dedicated to supporting vets. I'm not sure that petitions are effective and the advocates have limits too. It would take a lot of vets writing letters to get noticed. Perhaps contacting a vet related non-profit organization would be effective, they often have a large veteran base, they're already organized and some have friends in high places and that could help get the problem out there, in front of those that can make it happen.

I've tried to start my own non-profit that would recruit local dentists into donating their time for vets, even on a 1/month basis but it seems that finding dentists will do so is pretty difficult. So the only way that would work, locally, is to raise money and pay the dentists. That's better than nothing but there are too many vets in need for this to be the only solution.

Thoughts?
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