My name is Ben. I am an Afghanistan Combat Veteran. I served with the 101st Airborne Division based out of Ft. Campbell Kentucky. In 2015, I was deployed to the Helmand Province to support Operation Freedom Sentinel.

Since returning from Afghanistan and after my subseqent separation from the Army, I have dealt with significant depression and PTSD, and been diagnosed with a tramatic brain injury (TBI). As a result of this I developed severe anxiety relating to any form of medical or dental care. I have refused to seek care unless I absolutely have no other choice. On the rare occasions that I have sought medical care, the situation had usually progressed to an acute medical emergency. This fear has kept me from going to the dentist for the past several years.

On November 12th I was in Dallas Texas when I developed severe pain and extreme swelling on the left side of my mouth. After 3 days of dealing with the pain without any relief, I finally agreed to go to the VA in Dallas. My left jaw area had swelled so much that the ER doctor had difficulty visualizing the left side inside my mouth. She could see one tooth was badly abscessed but felt there may be more abscessed teeth further in the back of my mouth. She also noted several of my upper teeth and some of the lower teeth were also in extremely poor condition. She advised me that all of my teeth should be addressed as soon as possible by a dentist once the infection had subsided some. I was prescribed antibiotics and pain medication with the instructions to wait a week-and-a half to 2 weeks before going to a dentist to allow the swelling to go down.

I was previously working in security but a couple of weeks ago I lost my job and I do not have dental insurance, nor do I have the funds to have my dental problems addressed. My VA benefits do not cover dental. Because of my severe anxiety I do not think I can even force myself to go unless I can either have anesthesia or nitrous oxicide to get me through this.

With the extent of the damage to my teeth and the amount of restoration work I will need to be done, I am asking for help so that I the decayed and abscess teeth do not lead to more complex medical problems.

This is something that I never thought I would need to be doing. It has taken a lot of soul searching and letting down my pride to get to this point so I do not take this request lightly. I realize these are trying times for many of us, but if there is anyway that anyone can help me I would truly appreciate it.