Dentistry4Vets: Changing Veterans' Lives One Smile at a Time
Broken front teeth robbed Doreen of her self-confidence, but the cost of repair was beyond her means. She even traveled to Mexico for discounted care, but the results weren’t enough; she was still too embarrassed to smile.
Then she found Dentistry4Vets, a nonprofit in Marina that provides desperately needed dental care exclusively to military veterans and their spouses.
“The procedure was not only life-changing for my appearance, but it also restored my self-confidence,” the Army veteran said. “I'm thankful to everyone involved in this program for giving me back something I thought I lost forever.”
Affordable dental care for veterans
The unique program was founded in 2018 by Patricia Yellich and her husband, Dr. George Yellich, an oral surgeon and retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander. The Dentistry4Vets clinic annually provides more than 2,000 dental appointments and 4,000 dental procedures. Services are provided at a 60–70-percent discounted rate thanks to community support including grants, financial and in-kind donations, volunteers, and some insurance reimbursement.
Critical support has come from Montage Health's Community Benefit program, which gave Dentistry4Vets the start it needed in 2020 by providing the space for the current clinic at Montage Wellness Center in Marina. In 2025, Montage Health provided a $50,000 grant to help develop a new, larger, and fully ADA-compliant clinic in Ryan Ranch, slated to open in early 2026.
Patricia Yellich, Dentistry4Vets executive director, says the space will include four treatment rooms, a dental lab, and a dental specialty suite for procedures now referred to other practices.
Increased space, staff, and capabilities mean they can do more to meet the gaping need. There are 35,000 veterans on the Central Coast and only 15 percent are eligible for dental coverage through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Even for those, getting care is challenging: The closest VA dental centers are in the Bay Area and Southern California, and appointments can take up to eight months, Yellich says.
“We provide a nurturing environment in our clinic that is judgment free, responsive to the needs of our patients, starting with the first phone call, and centered on providing customized, high-quality dental care,” Yellich says.
Serving the community
Dentistry4Vets staff, from left to right: Dr. Joshua Sanchez, Patricia Yellich, Brianna Martinez, Jeanette Nakamura Bowers, and Esmeralda Sanchez
The practice is tailored to its clientele, half of whom are 67 or older and a third of whom have a physical or mental disability. Staff members meet those who need assistance in the parking lot and provide blankets if it’s cold. Phones are answered by people, not recordings. Emergency cases are seen quickly and the goal is to keep any other waits for appointments less than three weeks.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but [General] George Washington only had one remaining tooth” when he became president, Yellich says. “For 250 years, we really haven’t done much better for our veterans, but Dentistry4Vets is carving the path to provide this much-needed dental care. The new clinic will serve as a template that we would like to see expand across the country.”
Montage Health is proud to be part of that path locally, says Michele Melicia Young, director of Montage Health Foundation, which oversees the Community Benefit program. In 2024, Montage Health provided $218.4 million in community benefit support to improve the health and lives of residents in Monterey County, partnering with 240 organizations like Dentistry4Vets.
“When these organizations succeed, our whole community benefits,” Young says, “and we also see the benefits across our healthcare system — fewer preventable illnesses, stronger support networks, healthier residents, and a community better equipped to thrive.”
Learn more about Montage Health's Community Benefit program.
