A Manchester dentist’s office is offering free dental services to veterans again this year.
Dental Associates is offering the free care today from 7 a.m. to noon. Dental assistant Michelle Hettinger says it’s their fifth year for the event, which has helped dozens of veterans from the area.
“In 2019, we actually served over 50 vets and we were able to give out over $26,000 in dentistry needs,” she says.
Hettinger says you don’t have to be a patient of the practice. All veterans are welcome.
“It’s just great to be able to see the veterans be able to get together. I know this year will be a little bit different, but not only do they tell us stories, they’re able to talk to each other and that’s not I just thing and a lot of them have even said to us: ‘No one outside my family has ever done anything for me for being a veteran,'” she says. “They did so much us, it’s a little bit that we can give back to them.”
Ellen Hauser, another member of the dentistry team, says because of Covid, appointments are required this year. Veterans can receive one of three dental services.
“We’re going to do a choice of a free cleaning, filling or extraction and then whatever time allows for, we can do additional things if we have time for it,” she says.
This event started in 2016 as a way to give back to veterans around Veterans Day.
“A lot of us at the office have veterans in our family, so it is something we hold really near and dear to our hearts,” she says. “Over the years we’ve see just so many emotions come out of people — and it’s honestly just the least that we can do. They’ve made the ultimate sacrifice for out country, so we just want to be able to give back a little piece of what we can to them.”
(By Janelle Tucker, KMCH Manchester)