Citation Nr: 22049072
Decision Date: 08/29/22	Archive Date: 08/29/22

DOCKET NO. 20-13 213
DATE: August 29, 2022

REMANDED

Entitlement to a compensable rating for a dental disorder due to trauma is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served honorably in the United States Army on active duty from September 1990 to February 1994.  

This appeal comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a January 2019 rating decision by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA).  The Board remanded this matter to VBA in June 2020, April 2021, and February 2022 for additional evidentiary development including obtaining additional VA examinations of the Veteran's dental disorders.  The Board stressed that the examiner must obtain X-rays of the Veteran's mouth, seriously consider her lay statements about her symptoms including difficulty eating solid food, and address other pertinent evidence in the record including an October 2018 letter from S.U-T., DDS.  The Board also found that the Veteran's disability picture for her dental disorders met the criteria for referral for extraschedular consideration to the Director of Compensation Service under 38 C.F.R. § 3.321(b)(1) and instructed VBA to refer the matter to the Director if it could not assign a compensable rating under existing diagnostic codes to contemplate the Veteran's symptoms.  

VBA obtained an additional medical opinion to address many of the concerns identified in the remand orders in May 2022, and the examiner indicated additional imaging of the Veteran's mouth was obtained on May 24, 2022.  However, the X-rays do not appear in the claims file, VBA did not assign a compensable rating for the Veteran's dental disorders on appeal, and VBA did not refer the matter to the Director for extraschedular consideration as the Board ordered.  Therefore, the Board must remand this matter once more to obtain the outstanding relevant records and refer the matter to the Director for review.  

The Board REMANDS this matter for the following actions:

1. VBA should contact the Veteran and all current representatives and request their assistance in identifying any outstanding relevant records, to include copies of the panographic/intraoral imaging conducted on May 24, 2022, which the May 2022 VA examiner referenced.  VBA should make reasonable attempts to obtain all identified outstanding records and associate them with the Veteran's claims file.

2. After associating all outstanding relevant records with the claims file including the May 2022 imaging records, VBA shall refer this matter to the Director of Compensation Service for extra-schedular consideration.  

 

 

K.A. KENNERLY

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Michael Duffy

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.