Westminster dental office to offer free dental care to veterans on Saturday

Jun. 20--On Saturday, Dental Care of Westminster will offer free dental care to veterans on a first-come, first-served basis.

Beginning at 8 a.m. and running until noon, the Veterans Free Dentistry Day event will offer veterans with valid identification can receive on free cleaning, filling or extraction, according to practice manager Cambria Sies-Olsen.

"The important thing would be to have either a veteran ID or an American Legion membership card," she said. "We have the paperwork to fill out the rest and will go over any medical history when they are here."

Free Dentistry Day is a national movement. This will be the second day of free dental care offered by the practice, according to Sies-Olsen -- in 2018 they offered care to the entire community.

"We actually had patients from as far as West Virginia come for that one," she said. "We had 47 patients and did over $15,000 in dental work last year."

The Community Media Center in Westminster will host Carroll County veterans for a Veterans Oral History Collection Day on June 8.

The collection day gives an opportunity for local veterans to share their personal accounts of military service, according to a news release.

The project was brought...

Sies-Olsen wrote in a media release about the event that the kind of routine dental care being offered can also help identify many other health issues, from oral cancer to Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

This year, the practice's dentist, Arif Masood, felt it was important to address the dental needs he was seeing in the local veterans community specifically.

"I do get a lot of these folks, they have no coverage, they have a lot of pain and many issues," Masood said. "There are people who need dental care who don't have money to come even for an extraction -- forget about implants or crowns, just the basics, a simple cleaning."

The event is being offered in partnership with American Legion Post 31, in part because the Legion recognizes the difficulty many veterans have in getting dental care, according to Post Commander Adrian Gamboa.

""The VA has an eligibility requirement, dental care for the most part is reserved for veterans who are fully disabled or with injuries related to the mouth," he wrote in an email. "Our veterans have sacrificed so much on behalf of our country, they deserve access to high quality health care, and that includes dental care."

And that, Masood said, was another reason he wanted to dedicate this free denistry day to those who had served.

"There they are, they have protected you and your country," he said. "It's good to recognize them, it's good to recognize what they have done for you and it's a small gesture on our part."

------

If you go

What: Veteran's Free Dentistry Day

When: 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturday June 22

Where: Dental Care of Westminster, 480 Meadow Creek Drive, Suite B, Westminster

Cost: Each veteran offered one free cleaning, filling or extraction on a first come, first served basis.

For more information call 410-848-4000 or visit www.FreeDentistryDay.org.

------

CAPTION

A trooper fatally shot a Carroll County man in Westminster on Monday morning, after the man stabbed the trooper, according to Maryland State Police.

A trooper fatally shot a Carroll County man in Westminster on Monday morning, after the man stabbed the trooper, according to Maryland State Police.

CAPTION

A trooper fatally shot a Carroll County man in Westminster on Monday morning, after the man stabbed the trooper, according to Maryland State Police.

A trooper fatally shot a Carroll County man in Westminster on Monday morning, after the man stabbed the trooper, according to Maryland State Police.

CAPTION

Miles Taylor, a 2013 Westminster graduate with cerebral palsy, weighs just 99 pounds. He recently gained widespread social media attention when a video of him deadlifting 200 pounds went viral. Miles trains at NEVERsate Athletics in Westminster with his coach, Nicolai Meyers.

Miles Taylor, a 2013 Westminster graduate with cerebral palsy, weighs just 99 pounds. He recently gained widespread social media attention when a video of him deadlifting 200 pounds went viral. Miles trains at NEVERsate Athletics in Westminster with his coach, Nicolai Meyers.

CAPTION

Kate Maerten of Gerstell Academy, 1st place winner of the Poetry Out Loud regional competition, reads an original poem which she won a 2nd Place for, at the Carroll Arts Center on Saturday, Feb. 2.

Kate Maerten of Gerstell Academy, 1st place winner of the Poetry Out Loud regional competition, reads an original poem which she won a 2nd Place for, at the Carroll Arts Center on Saturday, Feb. 2.

CAPTION

Firefighters contain barn fire at Baugher's Farm and Orchard in Westminster.

Firefighters contain barn fire at Baugher's Farm and Orchard in Westminster.

CAPTION

Recruits in the Carroll County Sheriff's Office Training Academy get hands-on training behind the wheel of a police car at the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions Driver Training Facility in Sykesville.

Recruits in the Carroll County Sheriff's Office Training Academy get hands-on training behind the wheel of a police car at the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions Driver Training Facility in Sykesville.

jon.kelvey@carrollcountytimes.com

410-857-3317

twitter.com/CCT_Health

___

(c)2019 the Carroll County Times (Westminster, Md.)

Visit the Carroll County Times (Westminster, Md.) at www.carrollcountytimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.