Thank You to Our Sponsors for Supporting Lifeline Heroes Challenge

We’ve wrapped up our 2022 Lifeline Heroes Challenge and we are so grateful for the support of our dental industry heroes for making comprehensive dental care more accessible to veterans in need. 

Did you know that the Veterans Administration is only able to provide dental care to about 3% of veterans? Thus millions of servicemen and servicewomen do not have access to dental coverage. Dental Lifeline Network – and our network of heroes – have truly stepped up to the plate to fill this gap. 

When veterans are unable to receive coverage elsewhere, heroes like Dr. Ben Ganjian volunteer to help provide the care they need. Dr. Ganjian was able to help provide care to an elderly veteran named Mario. Mario served in the U.S. military for many years before becoming a police officer. Now, during his retirement, he now spends his time helping neighbors in his Manhattan neighborhood and hanging out at his local neighborhood center. 

Although Mario is in relatively good health, his dental health was declining and he had several missing teeth and his remaining teeth were cracked. He was in desperate need of dental help. Even though he sought help for his teeth years ago, Mario was unable to receive the recommended treatment due to being on a fixed income and being ineligible for dental assistance through Veterans Affairs. 

Thankfully, Mario was referred to DLN by the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center staff and was connected with Dr. Ganjian and other generous volunteers who helped him receive the care he needed. Dr. Ganjian extracted six teeth and was helped by two laboratories that donated upper and lower partial dentures.