69 veterans receive care at 10th Annual Give Vets a Smile

Sixty-nine U.S. military veterans received free urgent, palliative, therapeutic, and/or preventive dental care during the 10th Annual Give Vets a Smile held Friday, Nov. 8, at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry.

Fourth-year dental students, second-year dental hygiene students, and faculty, residents, and staff from the Advanced Education in Endodontics, Advanced Education in General Dentistry, General Practice Residency, and Advanced Education in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery programs provided more than 500 treatments valued at over $57,000.

“I feel very fortunate to be able to participate in this amazing event today that truly helps and honors our veterans, who have done or sacrificed so much for us,” said Pantea Amirjalali, RDH, assistant professor in the Department of Periodontics and Dental Hygiene, who was participating in the event for the first time. “Every student and resident has put in their best effort to provide the highest quality of service. The veterans have been very happy about the results to the point that they want to return as patients in our clinics for further services.”

Give Vets a Smile is an annual collaborative event between UTHealth Houston’s School of Dentistry and Cizik School of Nursing. This community outreach effort for local veterans is coordinated through Raha Naderi, RDH, MEd, director of community outreach at the dental school, and Bridgette Pullis, PhD, RN, CHPN, director of the nursing school’s Veterans’ Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program.

The veterans in need were identified by Camp Hope, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Women Veteran Services, City of Houston Office of Veterans Affairs, Counsel on Recovery, Easter Seals Greater Houston, Harris County Precinct 2 Veteran Services, Open Door Mission, U.S. Vets-Houston, Veterans Administration, and Volunteers of America-Texas.

Timothy C. Kirkpatrick, DDS, professor and chair of the Department of Endodontics, is grateful to School of Dentistry leadership for this day of outreach to veterans. Kirkpatrick served as the endodontics consultant to the Air Force Surgeon General from 2010-17 and retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2017 after 25 years.

“I think it’s important for students and residents to interact with veterans that have committed their lives to support our way of life,” Kirkpatrick said. “This day of support allows us to care for some of their unmet needs and put them on a path to better oral and overall health.”

U.S. Army veteran Carmen Williams was a first-time participant in the event through Precinct 2. She said she is taking steps to close gaps in her smile.

“I was able to give to my country, freeheartedly, and I just want to say thank you to [UTHealth Houston] for giving us an opportunity and giving back to us as veterans,” Williams said.

Bill Heintzleman, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, said the lack of accessibility was why he was grateful to receive treatment at Give Vets a Smile.

“I had a great experience. They took very good care of me. The students were actively learning and supervised very well. It was my first time here, but I’ll be back,” he said.

Cizik School of Nursing was responsible for identifying and registering veterans in advance. On the day of the event, which was by invitation only, nursing students recorded the veterans’ vital signs.

Veterans were seen by a dental resident, dental student, and/or dental hygiene student based on dental care needs after necessary diagnostic X-rays and assessments.

Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, Midwest Dental, Chick-fil-A, and Jason’s Deli provided support for the event.

Additional School of Dentistry support for Give Vets a Smile was provided by radiology staff from Clinical Services, along with dental assistants from the Fondren Foundation Special Patient Clinic and the Urgent Care Clinic.

Special thanks to the staff of the School of Dentistry’s Office of Patient Care and its two divisions — Division of Patient Support Services and Division of Clinical and Educational Support Services — for logistics, planning, and execution.