Veteran Oral Health Hill Day

AIDPH will be partnering with key national veterans organizations on an in-person Veteran Oral Health Hill Day, during which participants will ask lawmakers to consider expanding dental benefits for veterans.

Driving this effort are numerous oral health challenges and disparities for our nation’s veterans:

• Roughly two in five veterans describe their oral health as fair or poor, translating to approximately 8 million veterans with self-reported suboptimal oral health.
• More than half (56%) of veterans report active and treated decay, a significantly higher percentage than the nonveteran population (37%).
• Nearly 24% of veterans live in rural areas, where consistent access to care can be challenging. Rural veterans are less likely to visit the dentist routinely and more likely to have lost all their natural teeth.