YOUNGSTOWN — Despite the ongoing health pandemic, a program that provides free dental services to veterans is rolling forward.

“Directors with Mercy Health, Mahoning Valley Hospital and a local veteran continue to coordinate care for veterans throughout the pandemic,” said Delmus E. Stubbs, a retired Army veteran and the Veterans Community Dental Program’s coordinator.

Services are offered via the Kikel Mobile Dental Clinic in Youngstown, he noted.

The clinic is available the first Thursday of each month at the Renaissance Learning Center, 345 Oak Hill Ave., on the South Side. Appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis, he added.

Many area veterans, especially those who are older, don’t receive needed care because they do not fit into at least one of several categories that the Veterans Administration has established, Stubbs said. The stipulations include being a prisoner of war, having a VA service-connected dental disability or suffering from a service-connected noncompensable dental condition or disability resulting from combat wounds or service-related trauma, he continued.

Primary services include routine cleanings, X-rays, exams, fillings, root canals and simple extractions, noted Stephanie Gay, practice manager with Mercy Health’s Physicians Youngstown Dental Care Clinic.

The three vehicles used for the program contain state-of-the-art equipment and sophisticated machines able to catch certain dental problems that traditional X-rays might miss, she explained.

Lack of dental care is a large reason for emergency room visits, Gay explained. Poor oral hygiene can result in periodontal disease, which can lead to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, infertility in women, rheumatoid arthritis, erectile dysfunction in men, respiratory infections and dementia, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based Cunning Dental Group.

“We need to treat our veterans; we need to reach out to our veterans,” Gay said. “We were blindsided by the lack of dental care our veterans get.”

The dental-care program got underway about 19 years ago, with little more than a chair in a retrofitted medical van, which treated mainly third-grade students as well as those in a few area nursing homes and community centers. In the ensuing years, however, the need for the services has increased, said Gay, adding that more than 1,300 patients were seen last year.

Also part of the program are efforts to teach first-graders good oral-hygiene practices, and to try to target those who are uninsured, underinsured or need care but have few resources, she said.