Citation Nr: 18153043 Decision Date: 11/27/18 Archive Date: 11/26/18 DOCKET NO. 17-36 518 DATE: November 27, 2018 REMANDED The claim of entitlement to service connection for a dental disability is remanded. The claim of entitlement to VA outpatient dental treatment is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from May 1984 to May 1988. He is presently pursuing appeals of multiple claims, including entitlement to a higher initial rating for a back disability, a claim still being developed and not now before the Board for appellate review. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) has indicated that the Veteran is represented by a private attorney in all claims, including the one now on appeal, but, as that attorney has made clear in a VA Form 21-22 (Appointment Of Veterans Service Organization As Claimant’s Representative) and multiple letters, his representation is limited to the claim of entitlement to a higher initial rating for a back disability. Entitlement to VA outpatient dental treatment In mid-2000, the Veteran filed a claim for dental treatment, claiming that he had sustained dental trauma during active duty. The VARO denied this claim by rating decision dated May 2000, after which the Veteran filed a notice of disagreement with the denial. Thereafter, in letters dated May and September 2000, the RO explained that it had mistakenly decided this claim without jurisdictional authority and that the VA Medical Center (VAMC) closest to the Veteran’s home had sole authority to do so. The RO indicated that, given this fact, it was transferring the Veteran’s claim to that VAMC. Following the transfer, that VAMC never followed up by adjudicating the claim or issuing the Veteran a statement of the case. In May 2015, noticing this, the Board remanded the claim of “entitlement to service connection for a dental disability for the purpose of receiving VA outpatient dental treatment” to the RO for issuance of a statement of the case. However, although a claim for service connection for a dental disability is also considered a claim for VA outpatient dental treatment, see Mays v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 302, 306 (1993), different entities have jurisdictional authority to decide each portion of such a claim. The RO is tasked with adjudicating claims for service connection for dental conditions while VAMCs are tasked with adjudicating claims for VA outpatient dental treatment. As such, regarding that portion of the claim involving VA outpatient dental treatment, the appropriate VAMC should have issued the statement of the case. Entitlement to service connection for a dental disability This appeal is limited to that portion of the Veteran’s claim involving service connection for a dental disability. According to the Veteran, he has a hard palate tumor, which results from dental trauma sustained in service when he underwent surgery on his bridge. Allegedly, this surgery was filmed for training purposes and he consented to the filming in exchange for a promise of lifetime dental treatment. Service treatment records confirm that the Veteran received in-service dental treatment, including surgery, and had problems with his bridge. They do not refer to or include any video of the surgery. The Veteran requests that the video - allegedly part of his record at the VA Medical Dental Lab in Norfolk, Virginia - be obtained in support of his claim. These matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain and associate with the record the video of the Veteran’s in-service dental surgery from the VA Medical Dental Lab in Norfolk, Virginia. 2. Once the video is received, transfer the Veteran’s record to a VA examiner for an opinion as to whether the Veteran sustained dental trauma during his period of active duty. The examiner should base the opinion on a review of the Veteran’s service dental records and, if available, the video of his surgery. 3. Transfer the Veteran’s claim for VA outpatient dental treatment to the appropriate VAMC for issuance of a statement of the case. LESLEY A. REIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD L. N., Counsel