New partnership will help provide high-quality dental care for veterans

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Two medical device companies are partnering with the American Academy of Implant Dentistry Foundation to help restore the smiles of military veterans who are missing teeth.

The effort to provide veterans with access to high-quality dental care was announced Tuesday at an event attended by U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City.

Zimmer Biomet, a medical device company based in Warsaw, Indiana, and RTI Surgical Holdings, Inc., a Marquette, Michigan-based global surgical implant company, plan to donate a supply of dental implants and wound care products to the American Academy of Implant Dentistry Foundation for a new initiative that funds dental implant procedures for veterans.

The AAIDF is the charitable arm of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, a professional organization that advances the science and practice of implant dentistry through education and research support and also serves as the credentialing standard for implant dentistry.

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Under the new partnership, Zimmer Biomet, through its Dental division, donated thousands of collagen wound care products that will be used in socket preservation procedures that prepare veterans to receive dental implant therapy. RTI’s donation includes allograft implants that provide options for veterans undergoing dental implant surgery.

Veterans receive routine oral care through their local VA facilities, but bone regeneration procedures and dental implants are not covered unless oral injuries occur in battle, said Mike Ursu, Zimmer Biomet Dental's Global associate director for professional relations.

The new initiative, which is expected to launch in August, provides these dental procedures to qualifying veterans at no charge.

“We are honored to help restore quality of life to the men and women who have bravely protected us,” Ursu said.

Tuesday's partnership announcement, which took place at Zimmer Biomet Dental's global headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, included appearances from Mast as well as guest veterans, leaders of global medical technology companies and the AAIDF.

Mast, a second-term Congressman and U.S. Army veteran who lost his lower legs during an explosion in Afghanistan, said good oral health is important for veterans not just in terms of health, but also in terms of confidence.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, studies have shown that after receiving dental care, veterans report significant improvement in perceived oral health, general health and overall self-esteem.

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"Confidence is something that leads you to go out there and continue your advancement out into the workplace, being whatever kind of entrepreneur you want to be," Mast said. "I think oral health is part of whole health. When you think about the amount of things internal to the body that begin with oral health, that makes it very important."

The American Academy of Implant Dentistry Foundation is dedicated to giving smiles back, AAID President Natalie Wong said, and partnering with Zimmer Biomet Dental is a key part of that process.

"Veterans have done so much for our communities and our country," she said. "We thought if we were going to give something back, we would just give them a smile. That's what we do. We do what we do best, which is doing dentistry. They've done what they can for our country, and we do what we can."

For information on the American Academy of Implant Dentistry Foundation, visit https://bit.ly/2Zdt8HS.

jwagner@pbpost.com

@JRWagner5