Business Gives Green Country Vietnam Veteran Free Dentures

A dental practice in Catoosa is celebrating Veteran’s Day a little early by giving one Tulsa veteran the gift of free dental care.

Randy Thrower is headed to Florida to meet up with some of his Navy shipmates he hasn’t seen in 50 years.

Affordable Dentures and Implants in Catoosa decided to do something special to help him celebrate Veteran’s Day, by giving him thousands of dollars of dental care for free.

Thrower says he initially went in with his wife for her dentures but started thinking about getting some for himself, too, for his upcoming reunion.

"I went home to figure out the financing and a couple of days later, Becca called me and said they were wanting to do something for a veteran on Veteran's Day, and they were willing to cover all the costs for my dentures," said Thrower.

The cost of removing his teeth and the implant surgery is a little more than $13,000.

“And this is a big help to me, that's why I put it off for so long, it's because of the expenses," said Thrower.

Rebecca Taylor, the Office Manager for Affordable Dentures and Implants in Catoosa, says she felt called to help Randy because of their similar past.

"It's important to me because I was in the Navy as well, and so to be able to help someone else who is a fellow veteran is very interesting and very rewarding," Taylor said.

Rebecca says she and the other employees were excited to help bring Thrower’s smile back.

"We kind of knew that we wanted to help him out, so we contacted the appropriate people and made it happen for him because ultimately we know how important it is to give somebody back their smile, and for us to be able to do something like this is truly an honor," said Taylor.

Thrower can’t wait to show off his new smile to all his friends.

"That's what I was wanting when I asked them about it, I want to be able to have a big ole smile when I met them again. It's been so long since I've seen them," said Thrower.

Thrower and his shipmates will head to Jacksonville, Florida next month for a ceremony for their ship being featured in a museum.

The ceremony will be on Veteran’s Day, November 11th.