For Dr. Marco Gargano, seeing patients leave with a healthy and happy smile is one of the most rewarding parts of being a dentist.
But the friendships he's created are the reason he heads into work each day — like the one he's formed with Clifford Jones St., a U.S. Army veteran. Jones came to Gargano with terminal dentition, a condition where a significant portion of a person's teeth are in such poor condition that replacement is recommended.
Jones was nervous, but after a long conversation with Gargano at the dentist's practice in Lee's Summit, he felt more at ease. In the end, Jones got help free of charge and Gargano made a new friend.
Gargano and other dentists in the Kansas City area are volunteering their time to offer the comprehensive dental care that Veterans' Affairs can't always provide, or has long waitlists for.
"When you're in pain, you're in pain and you got to get something done, so we're really trying to meet the needs of these (veterans) where they are," Gargano said
Gargano's desire to help veterans comes from his own military service. He joined the National Guard in 2018, and has spent six years in the dental corps, working at a medical unit at Camp Robinson, Arkansas.
There, he helps ensure active duty military and their families are fit and ready to deploy. It helped him realize just how frequently current and former military personnel let their dental health go by the wayside.
According to a recent report, 60% of veterans nationwide struggle with dental care, and more than 7 million veterans who get medical care through the Department of Veterans Affairs are not eligible for dental care. In Kansas City, estimates suggest there are between 100,000 and 150,000 veteran residents, many facing similar issues.
It's why Gargano met with Aspen Dental to discuss expanding their existing veteran efforts, and now offers low-cost and sometimes no-cost services to veterans in the community.
"If someone is truly down on their luck and they just need a tooth pulled or something like that, we'll go out of our way to help them out," Gargano said. "And if it's a bit more complex of a case and they're really looking to get full mouth care, then we may not always do those cases for free, but we'll certainly do them at discounted rates."
Gargano said he usually has to budget extra time for these appointments because he's liable to get into long conversations about their experience in the military. He says it can ease discomfort and make them feel heard in a system that sometimes falls short.
He isn't the only one stepping up to address the issue. Veterans Community Project, a local nonprofit focused on reducing veteran homelessness and providing additional supports, has a full dental suite on site.
Dentist Mitch Blacker helped donate the suite to VCP, partnering with a local veteran who runs a dental equipment facility. For the past eight years, he has paid a visit once a month to offer no-cost routine services for residents of VCP's tiny home site on Troost. Usually, he sees about six to 10 patients at each visit.
"These people have been through a lot," Blacker said. "A lot of PTSD. A lot of drugs. They've dealt with a lot of stuff. So, for the most part, it's triage, getting them started."
For more complicated cases, Blacker and Veterans Community Project facilitate an appointment at Blacker's practice.
Blacker stressed just how critical dental care is. Poor dental hygiene is linked with heart failure, diabetes and stroke. Neglecting your teeth can also accelerate the risk of Alzheimer's and other neurological disorders.
Significant issues are frequent in the veterans Blacker sees.
"It's the rule, not the exception," he said. "I'll rarely have people that live (at Veteran's Community Project) come in, and they don't need a lot of work. The older veterans, it's usually to the point where we're having to do dentures for them or they've already had dentures."
Blacker is hopeful increased focus on this issue can start to close the existing care gap.
Gargano said it's already making a difference, as word of mouth in a tight-knit veteran community creates a snowball effect.
Now, Gargano is working with the Missouri National Guard to get care to more active military members who wouldn't otherwise qualify. In the meantime, he's working to facilitate existing relationships and encourage more veterans to prioritize their dental health.
It's certainly had an impact on Clifford Jones.
"It's going to take me forever to thank these guys, so for now, I'm just gonna go outside and smile."
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