Citation Nr: 21069813
Decision Date: 11/19/21	Archive Date: 11/19/21

DOCKET NO. 16-49 900
DATE: November 19, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for a dental disability is denied.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran does not have a dental disability for VA compensation purposes.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a dental disability are not met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1712, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.381, 4.150. 

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from December 1968 to September 1971.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2014 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

In May 2019, the Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  The Board remanded the claim for further development in October 2019.  

1. Entitlement to service connection for a dental disability is denied.

Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service.  38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a).  However, dental disorders are treated differently than other medical disorders in the VA benefits system.  Service connection for dental disabilities for VA compensation purposes is only available for certain types of dental and oral conditions, including loss of teeth due to loss of substance of the body of the maxilla or mandible due to trauma or disease such as osteomyelitis but not the result of periodontal disease.  38 C.F.R. § 4.150.  Compensation is available for loss of teeth only if such is due to loss of substance of body of maxilla or mandible.  See Simmington v. West, 11 Vet. App. 41 (1998).  Treatable carious teeth, replaceable missing teeth, dental or alveolar abscesses, and periodontal disease are not compensable disabilities, but may be service connected solely for the purpose of establishing eligibility for VA outpatient dental treatment.  38 C.F.R. § 3.381.

The Veteran attributes his dental disability to an in-service trauma, reporting that a solider accidently hit him in the mouth with a rifle butt and broke his partial denture.  The VA examiner determined that the Veteran entered service missing teeth #8 and #9 and wore a removable partial denture but noted it was replaced during service in 1970 with a fixed partial denture from teeth #6  #11.  The examiner indicated the Veteran's loss of teeth was consistent with his reported in-service dental injury.  See June 2021 VA examination report and July 2021 VA opinion.  However, despite having in-service dental trauma, the evidence does not suggest, and the Veteran has not claimed, that he has experienced loss of substance of the maxilla or mandible due to such trauma.  The VA examiner diagnosed loss of teeth and specifically found that the loss of teeth was not due to loss of substance of the maxilla or mandible or a disease and indicated that the masticatory surfaces could be restored by suitable prosthesis, noting that the lost upper teeth were replaced by 6 implants with an attached fixed prosthesis.  Id. 

Given the above evidence, the Veteran's lost teeth in service do not constitute an injury for which compensation may be granted for VA purposes.  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.381 (replaceable missing teeth is not a disability for compensation purposes).  Moreover, the Veteran has not otherwise asserted, and the record has not shown, a compensable dental disability.  

Accordingly, in the absence of a current disability, entitlement to service connection for a dental disability must be denied.  Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223 (1992).

 

 

S. BUSH

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	S.S. Mahoney

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.