St. Louis clinic offers free dental care to veterans lacking VA coverage

ST. LOUIS — In a country where only about 15% of veterans qualify for dental care through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, access to oral healthcare remains a major gap in support services for those who’ve served.

But for many in St. Louis this week, that gap was filled, at least for a day.

On Saturday, the ninth annual Veterans Dental Clinic at the St. Louis Dental Center offered free cleanings, X-rays, extractions, exams, and dentures to former service members who often can’t afford care on their own. The event is hosted by A.T. Still University’s Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health in partnership with Affinia Healthcare and The Kaufman Fund.

“I have to get like four teeth taken out… if I was paying with just my dental insurance from work, it was gonna run me between $8,000 and $18,000,” said Matthew Neal, a Marine veteran from Arnold, Missouri. “That’s why I couldn’t even think about getting that done for that price.”

The clinic brings together student doctors and licensed professionals to treat veterans like Neal, many of whom have gone years without dental visits due to cost or lack of coverage.

Among the student providers was Olayemi Olabade, a fourth-year dental student and U.S. Army reservist who knows firsthand the cost of service and the value of care.

“As a veteran, I know what we put on the line. We sacrifice a lot,” Olabade said. “The freedom we enjoy today is because of the veterans. So, I feel like they deserve this.”

Olabade says he’s seen veterans moved to tears after receiving dentures, grateful not just for the treatment, but for the chance to eat, smile, and live more comfortably again.

“You can’t eat without teeth. That affects your whole body,” he said. “Some veterans deal with malnutrition or other health problems because they can’t chew or get the nutrition they need.”

“Unless you have 100% VA compensation, you do not qualify for dental work,” said Yuslah Keegan, a third-year dental student helping lead the clinic. 

Donations and community partnerships power the clinic, and students like Olabade and Keegan hope more people step up to support programs like it.

“A lot of people can’t afford dental care, even with insurance,” he said. “But this program? It’s changing lives.”

The event is a chance for both students and veterans to walk away with something lasting. “Students need to get certain procedures to graduate. The veterans need some of those procedures. The puzzle is to put them together and find somebody else to pay for it,” said Dr. Herb Silva, a Marino Corps veteran and director of ATSU’s Comprehensive Care Unit.

Through this program, more than 1,500 veterans have been screened and treated, and more than 660 veterans have received full and partial dentures. 

To support the program or learn more, visit The Kaufman Fund or ATSU-MOSDOH.