Citation Nr: 21013763 Decision Date: 03/10/21 Archive Date: 03/10/21 DOCKET NO. 09-02 556 DATE: March 10, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a dental disability, for compensation purposes, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from July 1970 to October 1990. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2007 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Boston, Massachusetts. The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a November 2010 Board hearing. A transcript is of record. This appeal was previously remanded by the Board in July 2012 and December 2014 for development and has been returned for appellate review. 1. Entitlement to service connection for a dental disability, for compensation purposes, is remanded. Compensation is only available for certain types of dental and oral conditions, such as impairment of the mandible, loss of a portion of the ramus, and loss of a portion of the maxilla. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.150. Treatable carious teeth, replaceable missing teeth, dental or alveolar abscesses, and periodontal disease are not compensable disabilities. 38 U.S.C. § 1712; 38 C.F.R. § 3.381. The Board regrets the additional delay, but finds that remand is again needed. The Board remanded the matter in December 2014 and directed that on remand, the VA examiner should clearly state whether the Veteran has a current dental disability involving loss of substance of the body of maxilla or mandible as residual of in-service dental trauma. Thereafter, the January 2020 VA examiner did not complete the portion of the examination report related to the maxilla, including anatomical loss or bone injury and did not complete the portion of examination report related to the mandible, including anatomical loss or bony injury. Instead, the VA examiner only addressed loss of teeth. In light of this, the Board finds that remand is again needed for VA addendum opinion to determine whether the Veteran has a current dental disability involving loss of substance of the body of maxilla or mandible as residual of in-service dental trauma. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain outstanding relevant VA treatment records and associate them with the claims file. 2. Then, the Veteran’s claims files should be forwarded to an appropriate VA examiner to review the claims file and provide an addendum opinion. The evidentiary record, including a copy of this remand, must be made available to and reviewed by the examiner. The opinion must include a notation that this record review took place. It is up to the discretion of the examiner as to whether a new examination is necessary to provide an adequate opinion. The VA examiner is asked to respond to the following inquiry: Whether the Veteran has a current dental disability involving loss of substance of the body of maxilla or mandible as residual of in-service dental trauma. In rendering this opinion, the examiner should review all pertinent documents in the claims file in conjunction with an addendum opinion. In particular, the VA examiner should consider all the available service dental records, including the service dental x-ray films dated in 1985, 1988 and 1990. The complete rationale for all opinions should be set forth and a discussion of the facts and medical principles involved would be of considerable assistance to the Board. If an opinion cannot be provided without resorting to mere speculation, the examiner must provide a complete explanation for why an opinion cannot be rendered. In so doing, the examiner must explain whether the inability to provide a more definitive opinion is the result of a need for additional information, or that he or she has exhausted the limits of current medical knowledge in providing an answer to that particular question. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) 3. After completing the above action and any other necessary development, the claim must be readjudicated. If the claim remains denied, a Supplemental Statement of the Case must be provided to the Veteran and current representative. After the Veteran has had adequate opportunity to respond, the appeal must be returned to the Board for appellate review. C. TRUEBA Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board S. Schick, Associate Counsel 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.