Citation Nr: 19166131
Decision Date: 08/27/19	Archive Date: 08/27/19

DOCKET NO. 19-14 393
DATE: August 27, 2019

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for trigeminal neuralgia is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran’s trigeminal neuralgia is etiologically related to an injury sustained during inactive duty training (INACDUTRA.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for entitlement to service connection for trigeminal neuralgia have been met.  38 U.S.C. § 101, 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.6(a), 3.102, 3.303.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1990 to November 1990 and June 2009 to August 2011.  He subsequently served various periods of INACDUTRA, including in December 2014.  He appeals a June 2018 rating decision denying entitlement to service connection for trigeminal neuralgia.

The Veteran contends his trigeminal neuralgia began following a dental procedure during INACDUTRA in December 2014 and has progressed ever since.  Entitlement to VA compensation may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active duty.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110 (wartime service), 1131 (peacetime service); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.

The term "active service" includes any period of INACDUTRA during which the individual concerned was disabled from an injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.  38 U.S.C. § 101(24); 38 C.F.R. § 3.6(a).

To establish entitlement to VA disability compensation, a veteran must show: (1) a present disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of an injury or disease; and, (3) a causal link between the present disability and the injury or disease incurred or aggravated in-service (“nexus” requirement).  Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004).

The Board finds the first and second Shedden elements have been met.  The Veteran has a current diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia.  See December 2017 medical treatment record.  Service treatment records also reflect that the Veteran had a dental procedure done on December 4, 2014.  The same records reflect the Veteran’s complaints of nerve pain and discomfort following the procedure.  See, e.g., January 2017 service treatment record.  The Veteran was serving on INACDUTRA on December 4, 2014.  See service personnel records.  He asserts that the pain became constant in December 2016 and has worsened since.  See July 2017 service treatment record.  A line of duty determination also points to the December 4, 2014 dental procedure as the genesis of the Veteran’s condition.  See AF Form 348 dated in March 2018.

The Board finds the third Shedden element is also met.  A VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s neuralgia was at least as likely as not incurred in or caused by service.  See December 2018 VA examination.  Although the VA examiner’ opinion is not the picture of clarity, the examiner points to service as the genesis of the Veteran’s trigeminal neuralgia.  Moreover, the accompanying examination report points only to the December 2014 dental procedure as the start of the Veteran’s symptoms.  The examiner noted that there is no evidence of record showing that the Veteran’s neuralgia existed prior to service or that a new and separate condition with the same medical presentation has evolved since service.  Id.  

In short, because the evidence of record demonstrates that the Veteran’s trigeminal neuralgia started as a result of an injury during INACDUTRA (i.e., his December 4, 2014 dental procedure), service connection for trigeminal neuralgia is warranted.

 

 

DONNIE R. HACHEY

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	D.J. Ballinger, Law Clerk

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.