Veterans Dental Care in Scottsdale, AZ
 Veterans dental care at Dental Works in Scottsdale, AZ starts with something most dental offices can’t offer: both of our dentists served as United States Navy Dental Officers before either of them practiced here. That doesn’t change the clinical work. It changes how much you have to explain while you’re in the chair.
If it has been a long time since you saw a dentist, you are in ordinary company here. Plenty of veterans set dental care aside during service and never quite picked it back up afterward. Nobody in this office is going to lecture you about the gap. A first appointment is a look, a conversation, and a plan, in that order.
Veterans, spouses, and kids all book on the same schedule, which is how family dentistry has worked here since 1994. Whether you have VA dental eligibility, a private plan through an employer, or no coverage at all, there is a route to getting seen, and we lay the options out before you commit to any of them.
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What Veterans Dental Care Includes Here
 This is not a separate program or a side department. It is the same general and restorative dentistry every patient at this office receives, with the coverage questions worked out up front instead of at checkout. What is different is who delivers it, and what you don’t have to spell out along the way.
The care itself covers the full range a general practice handles:
- Preventive – exams, teeth cleanings, digital x-rays, and an annual oral cancer screening
- Restorative – fillings, crowns, bridges, and the rest of the restorative dentistry that rebuilds teeth left neglected or worn down
- Tooth replacement – dental implants, dentures, and implant-supported options for missing teeth
- Urgent problems – broken teeth, lost fillings, and abscesses handled through our emergency dentistry
What we do not handle in-house, we refer out, and we say so at the consultation rather than partway through a treatment plan. If you are managing dry mouth from medication or teeth worn down over decades, our senior dental care page covers those concerns in more detail.
Two Navy Veteran Dentists in Scottsdale
Dr. Terry Work went from dental school straight into uniform. He earned his DMD at Oregon Health Sciences University in 1989, served four years as a Navy dental officer, then opened this Scottsdale practice in 1994. He now mentors at multiple institutes, serves as an ambassador of education for Instradent, and lectures on implant placement and bone grafting techniques. His bio page has the full record.
Also a former United States Navy Dental Officer, Dr. Mary Ann Work has practiced since 1993 and sits as an investigative dentist for the Arizona State Dental Board. Her stated favorite part of the work is helping someone get past a fear that has kept them out of a dental chair for years. More on Dr. Mary Ann Work’s bio page.
That is two former Navy Dental Officers with more than thirty years of practice apiece. They are married to each other, which is a large part of why this practice has never changed hands and why you see the same two dentists every visit. Neither of them makes a production out of the veteran connection. It surfaces when it is useful, which is usually when we are sorting out what your service records show or what the VA will and won’t cover.
Your First Visit, Step by Step
A new patient appointment covers three things: a full set of digital x-rays, an exam of both the teeth and the soft tissue, and a conversation about what you want to do with whatever we find. Nothing gets treated that day unless something is hurting and you want it handled.
Send Ahead What You Have
If you have dental records from service or from a VA clinic, send them or bring them along. They save us guesswork about which teeth have been worked on and when. If you have nothing at all, that is fine; the x-rays tell us most of what we need to know.
The Exam and X-Rays
We take digital x-rays, which deliver less radiation and read faster than the film systems most veterans remember from service, and go through them with you on screen rather than describing them secondhand. The dental exam also includes an oral cancer screening, which carries more weight for anyone with a history of tobacco use.
The Coverage Conversation
Before we quote any treatment, we work out what you actually have to work with: VA dental eligibility, private insurance through an employer or a spouse, or nothing. Each of those leads somewhere different, and it is faster to sort out before a treatment plan exists than after you have already agreed to one.
The Plan
You leave with a written plan sequenced by what needs attention first, second, and eventually. If everything can safely wait until your next cleaning, we tell you that too. There is no requirement to schedule anything on your way out the door.
Why It Matters That Your Dentist Served
Shared service is not a clinical credential, and we would not pretend otherwise. A dentist who served is not automatically better at fillings. What it changes is how much of the conversation you have to carry.
You do not have to justify a four-year gap in cleanings, or explain why the molars took a beating, or translate what a military dental record means. It gets a nod instead of a raised eyebrow. For a lot of veterans that is the actual barrier to walking in, not the dentistry waiting on the other side of the door.
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Records that get read - service and VA dental records are familiar territory here rather than an unfamiliar format to decode
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Straight answers - what needs doing now, what can wait a year, and what you can leave alone entirely
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Sequencing that respects a budget - a plan built in stages rather than handed over as one number to accept or decline
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The same two dentists - continuity across years, which is how restorative work actually gets tracked |
If dental anxiety is the thing that has kept you out of the chair, say so when you book rather than when you arrive. We can go slower, stop when you need to stop, and talk through sedation dentistry options if that would help.
Why Scottsdale Veterans Choose Our Office
The two dentists who founded this practice in 1994 are still the two dentists here. If you have bounced between providers over the years, having one person who knows your history start to finish is worth something on its own.
Our special needs dentistry program exists because the doctors personally understand what families navigating it are up against. The same adjustments apply to veterans managing service-connected disabilities: mobility limits, appointments that need to run shorter, difficulty reclining, or a visit that has to move at a slower pace. Tell us before you arrive and we build the appointment around it.
Our office is on E Desert Cove Ave, and the hours are built for people who work. Thursdays open at 7:00am and Tuesdays and Wednesdays run until 6:00pm, which covers most schedules without burning a vacation day. The tone here is plainspoken by design: our dentists explain what they found in language that does not need translating, then let you decide what to do about it.
VA Dental Benefits and Payment Options
 Most veterans are surprised to learn that enrolling in VA health care does not automatically include dental. The VA handles dental eligibility separately, and it is considerably narrower than medical eligibility. Knowing which side of that line you fall on is the first step, because it determines everything about how you pay for care.
Who Qualifies for VA Dental Care
The VA sorts dental eligibility into classes, and the main paths run to:
- Veterans with a service-connected dental condition rated compensable at 10 percent or higher
- Veterans rated 100 percent service-connected disabled, or paid at the 100 percent rate for unemployability
- Former prisoners of war
- Veterans who apply within 180 days of discharge from a qualifying period of active duty, for a one-time course of care
- Certain veterans enrolled in qualifying VA homeless programs
Those categories leave out the majority of veterans. If you are enrolled in VA health care but do not qualify for dental benefits, the VA Dental Insurance Program lets you buy a discounted plan through Delta Dental or MetLife, and CHAMPVA beneficiaries can buy in as well. One thing to be clear about: we are a private dental office, not a VA facility, so we cannot determine your eligibility or authorize care under it. Classes and rules change, so check your own status through the VA dental care page or with a county Veteran Service Officer, who handles exactly this and does not charge for it. If you do end up carrying a dental policy, call us with the plan name and we will tell you where we stand with the network before you book.
If You Do Not Qualify for VA Dental
Our Dental Savings Program is the in-house alternative. It is a discount plan rather than insurance, with no annual maximum, no deductible, no claim forms, and no waiting period before you can use it. Exams, cleanings, and x-rays are covered outright, and most other treatment comes at a reduced fee. Single, dual, and child plans are available.
One thing worth knowing up front: the savings plan cannot be combined with dental insurance or with a financing program like CareCredit. It is one path or the other, not both. For larger treatment plans we do offer CareCredit and Sunbit, and both spread the balance across monthly payments. Call (480) 391-0099 and we will walk through which route leaves you paying the least before you ever sit down in the chair.
Schedule Your Visit in Scottsdale
The first appointment commits you to nothing beyond showing up. Reach us at (480) 391-0099, or send a request through our Request an Appointment page. The office sits in North Scottsdale at 9070 E Desert Cove Ave, #A101, Scottsdale, AZ 85260. If you would rather check the hours before calling, they are listed on our Contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the VA pay for dental care at a private office like this one?
Only in limited circumstances. VA dental care is normally delivered at a VA dental clinic rather than referred out to a community office, and the referral pathways that do exist are tied to specific eligibility classes and require authorization from your VA facility before the appointment happens. Start there rather than here, because after-the-fact authorization is rarely granted.
I am still in the Reserves. Does this page apply to me?
Not directly, and the distinction matters. Active duty service members get care through military dental treatment facilities. Guard and Reserve members who are not on extended active duty orders, along with active duty family members, are instead eligible to enroll in the TRICARE Dental Program, a voluntary plan with monthly premiums that United Concordia administers. None of it is automatic, and none of it works like veteran eligibility. Call us with your plan name and we will tell you where we stand with the network.
Do I need my DD-214 to be seen?
No. We do not verify service in order to schedule an appointment, and nothing about your care here depends on producing one. The DD-214 matters for VA benefit eligibility, which the VA determines rather than a dental office. Bring it if you plan to apply for VA dental benefits; leave it home otherwise.
Does Dental Works offer a veterans discount?
Ask, because that is a front-desk question rather than a website question. What the site can tell you is that the Dental Savings Program is open to any patient and usually beats paying fee-for-service if you have no coverage at all, and that CareCredit and Sunbit are both available for larger plans. Bring your situation to the desk and have someone run the actual numbers.
Can my spouse and children come here too?
Yes. Children are seen from a first visit onward, so there is no separate referral for routine pediatric care. Worth checking before you assume you are paying out of pocket: if a spouse carries dental insurance through an employer, that plan frequently covers the whole household, including the veteran.
I have not been to a dentist in years. How bad is this going to be?
Less dramatic than you are picturing. The usual finding after a long gap is tartar that has worked below the gumline and needs a deep cleaning rather than a routine one, plus a few cavities. Not the wholesale reconstruction people brace for. A lot of what looks alarming in the mirror is staining and buildup that comes off in one appointment. What we cannot promise is that nothing is there, which is why the x-rays come first.
What if a service-connected disability makes a normal appointment difficult?
Tell us when you book rather than at check-in, because the fix is usually scheduling rather than clinical. The first slot of the morning is the quietest time in any dental office, and splitting work across two shorter visits keeps either one from running long. Our special needs dentistry program was built around exactly those adjustments.
Why should a veteran choose Dental Works in Scottsdale?
Two former Navy Dental Officers is the short answer, and it is a real one. The longer answer is that the coverage question gets settled before treatment is quoted, which for a veteran sorting out what the VA does and does not pay for is the difference between a plan you can act on and a number you have to go research on your own.
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