Sen. Miramant commends initiative to provide dental care for veterans

Sen. Dave Miramant of Camden recently visited the Aspen Dental MouthMobile in Augusta as part of their Healthy Mouth Movement.

The community-giving initiative launched in 2014 to deliver free dental care to thousands of people in need in communities across the U.S. with a primary focus on helping veterans get the dental care they need.

At the Augusta event, 12 local volunteers provided free dental care to 10 veterans on the MouthMobile. The donated value of the care given was almost $5,000.

“I am impressed with the commitment and service provided by volunteers for our veterans,” said Sen. Miramant. “As they travel around the state and country, they are helping veterans receive basic dental care that might otherwise not be possible. I commend them on this initiative.”

Since 2014, more than 7,000 patients have received free dental care through the program. The MouthMobile has visited 33 states, resulting in more than $4.1 million dollars in free dental care.

According to Aspen Dental, challenges attributed to receiving oral health care are limited access to dentists, high costs, or lack of insurance. Those barriers kept more than 155 million American adults from visiting a dentist in the past year. Among those are veterans, because they do not receive dental care benefits through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs unless they are 100 percent disabled or have a service-related injury to their mouths.

On Saturday, June 25, 2016, nearly 400 Aspen Dental practices in the country will be participating in the National Day of Service – an event that will provide free dental care to veterans. Interested veterans should call 1-844-AspenHMM to find a participating practice in their community and schedule an appointment. Participating practices in Maine include: Auburn, Bangor, Portland, South Portland, and Waterville.

Sen. Miramant is pictured outside of the MouthMobile in Augusta with program volunteers.