Retired Marine offers free Dental Care to Missouri veterans in need
Dr. Herb Silva’s “Smiles for Veterans” program has provided dental care to over 2,000 veterans.
ST. LOUIS — At A.T. Still University’s Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health, you might expect to find drills and floss. What you might not expect is a Marine on a mission.
Dr. Herb Silva, 79, proves every day that while some people retire from service, others just find new ways to serve. The former Marine helicopter pilot has created something extraordinary—a program that’s giving fellow veterans something many thought they’d never have again: a reason to smile.
Silva’s journey from combat to compassion began decades ago in the skies over Vietnam. “I flew almost a thousand missions and now that that was supporting, supporting the troops, taking care of the troops,” Silva recalls.
After all those flights over Vietnam as a Marine helicopter pilot, Silva spent 38 years building a private dental practice. But ten years ago, he discovered his true calling.
“It started with just a casual conversation, Hey, wouldn’t this be, do you have any veterans around here? Wouldn’t it be cool if we came down with veteran students and, and veteran faculty and treated veterans?” Silva said.
That casual conversation became the “Smiles for Veterans” program—filling a gap that Silva says is heartbreaking.
The statistics Silva discovered were shocking. “If there’s 400,000 veterans in Missouri, the reality is the VA providing dental treatment only services about 5% of the veteran population,” he explained.
What about the other 95 percent? That’s where Dr. Silva comes in.
Every July, more than 120 veterans answer Silva’s call for free dental screenings and treatment. The program has now treated over 2,000 veterans since its inception.
Among them is 82-year-old Navy veteran Frank Palozola, who spent his service hunting submarines from aircraft carriers—work where one mistake could cost lives.
“I was a bad boy when I was growing up and didn’t take care of my teeth. And so this was a chance to correct past mistakes,” Palozola said.
Now he’s getting something he earned decades ago but never received—care, and kindness.
“Everyone that I have met in this program so far has been absolutely wonderful,” Palozola said. “You couldn’t ask for a nicer guy.”
Silva isn’t just treating veterans—he’s training them. Students like Coast Guard veteran Brittany McCall learn alongside their professor that dentistry can be about much more than teeth.
“Honestly, when it comes veteran to veteran, doesn’t matter the generation. We’re like magnets. We just gravitate to one another every single time,” McCall said.
For Silva, a lesson learned in the jungles of Vietnam still applies in the dental chair: “I learned in the military, take care of your troops, they’ll take care of you.”
What began as a simple idea has now treated over 2,000 veterans. And while Dr. Silva recently won a Distinguished Humanitarian Award from the International College of Dentists, he says the real prize is watching it all ripple forward.
“We’ve got students who are now licensed doctors in the real world, sending us pictures of the veterans that they’re treating in their own practices,” Silva said proudly.
Join the Mission: July 19
The next Smiles for Veterans free dental screening will be held:
When: Saturday, July 19
Where: St. Louis Dental Center
1500 Park Ave. St. Louis, MO 63104
Who: Walk-ins welcome
Dr. Silva once flew into combat to save lives. Now this Marine stays grounded, giving his fellow veterans something they don’t always get—a reason to smile again.
To learn more or preregister, call (314) 685-3553.
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