Local dentist provides free check-up for veterans

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - An often overlooked group in the community is getting some well-deserved help.

Orchard Meadows Dental offered free services for veterans and active duty military on Friday, Oct. 27, as a part of Freedom Day USA. All you needed to do was schedule an appointment and bring a military ID. The free dental services include extraction, filling, or preventative care. For owner and lead dentist, Dr. Mark Gardner, this event hits close to home.

“I am a veteran myself,” said Gardner. “I spent six years in the Air Force and I understand that our veteran community a lot of times does not have access to care in dentistry like they do in medicine or anywhere else. It was important for me to be able to use our skills and our knowledge to try to satisfy a little bit of that need and help some people that might need it.”

The event, now in its eighth year, has been a resource many veterans have been able to take advantage of and are grateful for.

“They truly appreciate it, said Orchard Meadows marketing director Scott Bader. “Many of these men and women, they are able to get some dental work. But some, this is it. They really don’t have the resources to provide for themselves and to really get the health care they need, the dental health care they need. So it’s a very much needed service and very appreciated by the community.”

This event is entirely self-funded by the practice and all employees and nurses worked for free Friday in order to provide these services to the community. In the Spring, Orchard Meadows will host a similar event, Dentistry with Heart, which will be open to the entire community.

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