Citation Nr: 18148200 Decision Date: 11/07/18 Archive Date: 11/07/18 DOCKET NO. 16-27 098 DATE: November 7, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for partially impacted wisdom teeth, for compensation purposes, is denied. Entitlement to service connection for residuals, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is denied. REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a neck disability is remanded. Entitlement to bilateral hand disorder, to include as secondary to neck disorder, is remanded. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran does not have a service-connectable dental condition for compensation purposes.. 2. No residuals of a traumatic brain injury have been diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection of partially impacted wisdom teeth for VA compensation purposes are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.381(b), 4.150 (2017). 2. The criteria for service connection for residuals, traumatic brain injury, have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service with the United States Marine Corps from January 1984 to December 1986. These matters come before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a September 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The question of service connection of a dental condition for treatment purposes has not been adjudicated by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). Therefore, the Board does not have jurisdiction over it, and is referred to the AOJ for appropriate action. 38 C.F.R. § 19.9(b). Service Connection To establish a right to compensation for a present disability, a Veteran must show: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service—the so-called “nexus” requirement. Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1362, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (quoting Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004)). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge when all of the evidence establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Competent medical evidence is evidence provided by a person who is qualified through education, training, or experience to offer medical diagnoses, statements, or opinions. Competent medical evidence may also include statements conveying sound medical principles found in medical treatises. It also includes statements contained in authoritative writings, such as medical and scientific articles and research reports or analyses. 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(a)(1). Competent lay evidence is any evidence not requiring that the proponent have specialized education, training, or experience. Lay evidence is competent if it is provided by a person who has knowledge of facts or circumstances and conveys matters that can be observed and described by a lay person. 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(a)(2). This may include some medical matters, such as describing symptoms or relating a contemporaneous medical diagnosis. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007); Kahana v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 428, 435 (2011). A layperson is generally not capable of opining on matters requiring medical knowledge. Routen v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 183, 186 (1997). See also Bostain v. West, 11 Vet. App. 124, 127 (1998). In determining whether service connection is warranted for a disability, VA is responsible for determining whether the evidence supports the claim or is in relative equipoise, with the veteran prevailing in either event, or whether a preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, in which case the claim is denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination, the benefit of the doubt is afforded the claimant. Partially Impacted Wisdom Teeth The dental conditions for which service-connected compensation benefits are available are set under 38 C.F.R. § 4.150, DCs 9900-9916. Disability compensation and VA outpatient dental treatment may be provided only for certain specified types of service-connected dental disorders. For other types of service-connected dental disorders, the claimant may receive treatment only and not compensation. 38 U.S.C. § 1712; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.381, 4.150, 17.161. Impacted wisdom teeth are not listed as eligible for compensation. At most, loss of teeth would be compensable, but even then only as a result of trauma or disease of the bone of the jaw. 38 C.F.R. § 4.150, Code 9913. Neither is alleged here. There is no service-connectable dental disability. Residuals, TBI The Veteran contends that he has present residuals of TBI which are the result of an in-service motor vehicle injury. The fact of the accident, and that the Veteran struck his head, are established. A VA TBI examination was afforded the Veteran in August 2014. The examining VA psychiatrist noted that the Veteran had been diagnosed with TBI in 1986; but he did not diagnose any residuals thereof. Additionally, he did not note any current subjective complaints by the Veteran associated with head trauma. While a TBI did occur, the current problems and complaints from the accident related to the neck, and not a brain injury. Recent statements from the Veteran, describing neck pain, numbness and tingling of the hands and arms, and weakness, continue this. In the absence of proof of a present disability there can be no valid claim. Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225 (1992). REASONS FOR REMAND The file includes evidence of an injury to the head and neck in an motor vehicle accident in service, with subsequent complaints of and treatment for symptoms consistent with a cervical spine condition, to include radiculopathy. Remand is required for an examination and nexus opinion on the remaining matters. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA spine examination; the claims folder must be reviewed in conjunction with the examination. The examiner must identify all current conditions of the neck/cervical spine, and for each such, must opine as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) related to military service. In opining, the examiner is informed that an in-service motor vehicle accident is found to have occurred as described. 5. Upon completion of the above, and any additional development deemed appropriate, readjudicate the remanded issues. If the benefit sought remains denied, the Veteran should be provided with a supplemental statement of the case. The case should then be returned to the Board for appellate review if otherwise in order. WILLIAM H. DONNELLY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD B. J. Komins, Associate Counsel