A Second Chance at a Smile: Dentistry4Vets Addresses Veteran Dental Needs
Above, you will see George Washington’s mouth stuffed with cotton to make it appear that he had teeth. The dentures pictured were fabricated from animal teeth, human teeth, and ivory.
By George and Patricia Yellich, Guest Contributors
Many people are surprised to learn that military veterans do not receive dental benefits in the VA benefit package unless they were a POW, are 100% disabled, or have dental injuries that occurred during their time of service. In 2024, only 4.5% of veterans in the U.S. received dental care through the VA, leaving a large gap in care for our veterans. Many veterans suffer from compromised health that stems from edentulism, missing teeth, oral infections, and dental pain. Many live a reclusive life due to the embarrassment that accompanies missing teeth.
Founded in 2018 by Dr. George Yellich (OMS) and Patricia Yellich, Dentistry4Vets is a nonprofit organization that recognized this gap in care for veterans. The mission of Dentistry4Vets is to provide comprehensive, long-term and emergency dental care to military veterans in a nurturing and professional clinic (www.dentistry4vets.org).
In fulfilling this mission, Dentistry4Vets gives veterans a second chance at life by restoring their confidence, dignity, and purpose with a new smile. Re-engaging in society both professionally and socially opens new doors for these veterans, who would otherwise hide from society, feeling embarrassed and unworthy.
Dentistry4Vets provides dental services in a fully staffed dental clinic that is exclusive to military veterans with these four core commitments: 1) Quality dental care provided by experienced dentists, hygienists, and registered dental assistants; 2) Comprehensive dental care, including dental specialists; 3) Continuity of dental care to ensure long-term optimum health benefits; and 4) Ease of dental care — we only serve veterans.
Annually, Dentistry4Vets serves over 600 patients, provides more than 2,000 dental appointments, and delivers over 4,000 dental procedures. Treatment plans prioritize the aesthetic zone, occlusion, infections, and education with regular dental hygiene appointments.
Dentistry4Vets has been so successful in fulfilling its mission that two major outcomes have developed: 1) The organization is poised to relocate to a larger facility in 2026 to meet the growing demand for its services; and 2) It has been recognized at the national level and received a grant to create a template of the new clinic that can be used to open future clinics.
The design of the new clinic will reflect the special needs of our veterans. Thirty percent of our patients suffer from a disability, physical or mental. As such, the new clinic has two ADA parking spaces at the entrance, and the treatment rooms are an open-bay layout with large windows. Two chairs will have movable privacy modules that can accommodate wheelchairs and walkers. Fifty percent of our patients require dental specialty work to achieve a healthy oral status, so there will be a dental specialty suite complete with oral sedation certification. A small conference room for case studies and educational purposes will also be included in the design.
It is worth noting that our first commander in chief, Gen. George Washington, had only one remaining tooth when he took office. In 2026, our nation will celebrate the 250th anniversary of Independence Day. For 250 years, we still had not addressed the dental needs of our veterans — until the founding of Dentistry4Vets. At Dentistry4Vets, saying “thank you for your service” is combined with providing much-needed dental care to veterans.
Below, you will see George Washington’s mouth stuffed with cotton to make it appear that he had teeth, and the dentures he fabricated from animal teeth, human teeth, and ivory.
Find more information here about how to become involved in the Dentistry4Vets mission.
