This Dental Nonprofit Will Fix Veterans’ Teeth for Free

Marine Corps veteran Arturo Gamboa can't stop smiling.

It wasn't always like this. For most of his life, the 65-year-old Gamboa grinded his teeth, and because the former corporal lacked dental insurance, he figured nothing could be done to fix his worn-down and cracked teeth. Then he discovered Everyone for Veterans, a nonprofit that connects eligible military veterans and their spouses to dentists in their communities for free oral care.

"One of my sons used to make fun of me, because my teeth were so worn out," Gamboa, who lives near Denver, told Military.com. "They were so little, especially the front ones, but he laughed and said, 'I can't give you shit about that anymore.' They look great."

Everyone for Veterans (or E4V) was founded in 2017 by Theresa Cheng, now a retired periodontist in Washington state. Cheng's advocacy for this cause actually dates back to 2008, when she read about a severely wounded veteran whose mother quit her job to help care for them.