WATCH – Veteran Receives Long-Awaited Dental Care Thanks to Nonprofit: ‘Means the World to Me’

Charles Florin is extremely proud of his service to his country, but one thing he struggled with for a long time was his smile.

“I’ve never been able to afford the insurance,” Florin recently told CBS Chicago. “So therefore, my teeth rotted off, broke out, all kinds of problems there.”

The Navy veteran has health care with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), however, the VA only offers dental work to those who meet certain criteria, such as former prisoners of war or veterans who have specific kinds of disabilities.

Fifteen percent of veterans enrolled in the agency’s healthcare program qualify for dental coverage, according to the CBS report.

“Well, I think it oughta be for everybody that served our country,” Florin said.

Meanwhile, Judith Bell, who lives in South Side, waited on getting dentures and extractions on her lower teeth for many years due to the fact she did not qualify.

“I am so proud to be a U.S. army veteran,” Bell declared, adding, “I thought that if they’re servicing the veterans, you would think that the whole body would be taken care of.”

A bill introduced recently in D.C. sought to expand dental care to veterans in the VA system and has the backing of a nonprofit group in Chicago known as the Veterans Smile Program.

“Our mission is to assist our Veterans in need obtain FREE critical dental care. They served, they deserve dental care too. The Veterans Smile program improves our Veterans physical health, mental health and overall quality of life after service,” the group’s website read.

There are veterans pulling their own teeth with pliers “because they simply cannot afford the dental care themselves,” according to Patricia DeVore who is president of the Veterans Smile program.

Meanwhile, the bill did not have the support needed to pass.

But thanks to the Veterans Smile program, Florin and Bell now have updated smiles.

“Means the world to me,” Florin said of the gift.

The program recently shared a before and after photo of him:

“Thank you for your service Charles and we hope you keep SMILING for many years to come!!” the post read.