VA Provided Dental Services

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dental services are very limited due to current laws. However, if you are recently discharged and your DoD discharge record, or (DD214), clearly indicates that either dental services were not provided within 90 days of discharge or that dental treatment was not completed during active duty may qualify you for VA dental care. You must apply for this limited dental care within 90 days of your separation from active duty.

SERVICES 101

Dental benefits are provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs according to current  laws. In some instances, VA is authorized to provide extensive dental care, while in other cases treatment may be limited. 
Note: The Chart in this blog post describes dental eligibility criteria levels and contains information to assist veterans in understanding their eligibility for VA dental care.

The VA Dental Corps program includes many current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, who because of their own military experience, understand your health concerns. VA dentists use the latest dental procedures and pain control techniques.  Most VA dentists have received advanced training in their specialties. Your dental care is provided in modern clinics that adhere to the highest standards of hygiene and infection control.

Types of Dental Services Offered by VA:

Dental benefits include a full range of services for eligible Veterans.  Below are some of the many services offered by VA Dentistry:

• Regularly scheduled cleaning and x-rays.

• Restorative procedures such as fillings, crowns and bridges.

• Comfortable, well-fitting dentures.

• Oral surgery such as tooth extractions.

• Access to oral and facial reconstruction surgery resulting from trauma or serious illness.

Outpatient Dental Program: The eligibility for outpatient dental care is not the same as for most other VA medical benefits and is categorized into classes. If you are eligible for VA dental care under Class I, IIC, or IV you are eligible for any necessary dental care to maintain or restore oral health and masticatory function, including repeat care. Other classes have time and/or service limitations.

In-patient Dental Program: If you are receiving hospital, nursing home or domiciliary care will be provided dental services that are professionally determined by a VA dentist, in consultation with the referring physician, to be essential to the management of the patient’s medical condition under active treatment.  

For more information on your eligibility to receive VA medical and dental benefits, contact VA at 1-877-222-VETS (8387) or www.va.gov/healtheligibility

Eligibility     
VA services are provided to any veteran who:

For more information, and to apply for VA healthcare services, go to the Online 10-10EZ Application.

Dental service has very specific eligibility guidelines. For information on eligibility for dental care, visit the VA Health Eligibility Web site. For more information on your eligibility to receive VA medical and dental benefits, contact VA at 1-877-222-VETS (8387) or www.va.gov/healtheligibility

·      

        Completed active military service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard (or Merchant Marines during WW II)

·       

       Was discharged under other than dishonorable conditions

·     

        National Guard members and Reservists who have completed a federal deployment to a combat zone

If you are currently serving in the military, and need assistance with your transition from DoD healthcare to VA healthcare, you may get assistance from a military liaison. Military liaisons are present at Base Readiness Centers and are instrumental in providing a multitude of connections between the military and civilian communities. Liaisons are responsible for ensuring that military orders are in place and all service-related transitional needs are addressed in a timely manner.

For more information regarding services available to returning Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve service members of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom visit: http://www.oefoif.va.gov/

Please note that only emergency services can be received through VA until your enrollment is processed.

SPECIFIC DENTAL PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY LEVELS:

If you:	You are eligible for:	Through
Have a service-connected compensated dental disability or condition.	Any needed dental care	Class I
Are a former prisoner of war.	Any needed dental care.	Class IIC
Have service-connected disabilities rated at 100%, or are unemployable and paid at the 100% rate due to service-connected conditions.	Any needed dental care.  [Please note: Veterans paid at the 100% rate based on a temporary rating, such as extended hospitalization for a service-connected disability, convalescence or pre-stabilization are not eligible for comprehensive outpatient dental services based on this temporary rating].	Class IV
Apply for dental care within 180 days of discharge or release (under conditions other than dishonorable) from a period of active duty of 90 days or more during the Persian Gulf War era.	One-time dental care if your DD214 certificate of discharge does not indicate that a complete dental examination and all appropriate dental treatment had been rendered prior to discharge.*	Class II
Have a service-connected non-compensable dental condition or disability resulting from combat wounds or service trauma.	Needed care for the service-connected condition(s). A Dental Trauma Rating (VA Form 10-564-D) or VA Regional Office Rating Decision letter (VA Form 10-7131) identifies the tooth/teeth eligible for care.	Class IIA
Have a dental condition clinically determined by VA to be associated with and aggravating a service-connected medical condition.	Dental care to treat the oral conditions that are determined by a VA dental professional to have a direct and material detrimental effect to your service connected medical condition.	Class III
Are actively engaged in a 38 USC Chapter 31 vocational rehabilitation program.	Dental care to the extent necessary as determined by a VA dental professional to: ·         Make possible your entrance into a rehabilitation program ·         Achieve the goals of your vocational rehabilitation program ·         Prevent interruption of your rehabilitation program ·         Hasten the return to a rehabilitation program if you are in interrupted or leave status ·         Hasten the return to a rehabilitation program of a Veteran placed in discontinued status because of illness, injury or a dental condition, or ·         Secure and adjust to employment during the period of employment assistance, or enable you to achieve maximum independence in daily living.	Class V
Are receiving VA care or are scheduled for inpatient care and require dental care for a condition complicating a medical condition currently under treatment.	Dental care to treat the oral conditions that are determined by a VA dental professional to complicate your medical condition currently under treatment.	Class VI
Are an enrolled veteran who may be homeless and receiving care under VHA Directive 2007-039.	A one-time course of dental care that is determined medically necessary to relieve pain, assist you to gain employment, or treat moderate, severe, or complicated and severe gingival and periodontal conditions.	Class IIB

VA dental services are located throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.  You can find a dental clinic in your area by using the interactive map on the following VA linked page:

Locate a VA Dental Clinic.

You may also be eligible for dental care through VA’s Project HERO. Project HERO is a pilot program in four regions of the country that helps veterans get the care they need when it is not readily available at their local Veterans Affairs Medical Centers or clinics. While veterans can still find and visit non-VA doctors with a Fee care authorization, Project HERO provides veterans access to a pre-screened network of medical and dental providers who meet VA standards for quality care. The care is offered through contracts with Humana Veterans Healthcare Services (HVHS) and Delta Dental Federal Government Programs (Delta Dental).

• Project HERO provides access to the following types of care when the care is not readily available within the VA Medical Center:

• Medical/surgical specialty care

• Mental health

• Diagnostics

• Dialysis

• Dental care

Homeless Veterans Dental Care

The mission of the Homeless Veterans Dental Program is to increase the accessibility of quality dental care to homeless Veteran patients and to help assure success in VA-sponsored and VA partnership homeless rehabilitation programs throughout the United States.

VA’s  Homeless Veterans Dental Program was established by the Veterans Administration in 1992. The dental needs of homeless Veterans are well documented. In surveys listing and ranking the 10 highest unmet needs for homeless Veterans, dental care was consistently ranked by homeless Veterans as one of their top 3 unmet needs, along with long-term permanent housing and childcare. Dental problems, such as pain and/or missing teeth can be tremendous barriers in seeking and obtaining employment. Studies have shown that after dental care, Veterans report significant improvement in perceived oral health, general health and overall self-esteem, thus, supporting the notion that dental care is an important aspect of the overall concept of homeless rehabilitation.

There is some limited dental eligibility for homeless Veterans who are in certain VA-sponsored rehabilitation programs. Persons wishing to obtain information regarding the homeless dental program in their area should contact their nearest VA’s homeless coordinator by visiting: http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp?isflash=1 or by simply visiting your closest VAMC, CBOC or Vet Center (walk-ins will be seen).

Common Q & A's

Is it true that newly-separated veterans can receive free dental care from VA? What is the eligibility for this service?

Yes, recently discharged veterans whose discharge record (DD214) clearly indicates either that dental services were not provided within 90 days of discharge or that dental treatment was not completed who served on active duty 90 days or more and who apply for VA dental care within 90 days of separation from active duty, may receive a onetime treatment for dental conditions and follow up treatment for that specific dental condition.

Is every veteran entitled to VA dental care?

No, current laws limit eligibility.You only have 90 days from your date of separation to apply for any dental care or benefits you may need.

 If you have dental concerns please ask your doctor about the services available to you.

I am still on active duty, so can VA provide dental care to OIF/OEF active duty service members being treated at VHA facilities?

Recently discharged veterans whose discharge record (DD214) clearly indicates either that dental services were not provided within 90 days of discharge or that dental treatment was not completed who served on active duty 90 days or more and who apply for VA dental care within 90 days of separation from active duty, may receive a onetime treatment for dental conditions and follow up treatment for that specific dental condition. 

For more information regarding services available to returning Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve service members of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn  visit: http://www.oefoif.va.gov/

What Next?

In order to receive the benefits you have earned the first step is getting enrolled in the VA healthcare system. You can enroll by calling toll-free 1-877-222-VETS (1-877-222-8387), visiting, or writing any VA healthcare facility, benefits office, or by using the online VA Form 10-10EZ.

If you are already enrolled in the VA health care system please speak to your VA physician about what dental services are available to you. VA dental services are located throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.  You can find a dental clinic in your area by using the interactive map on the following VA linked page: Locate a VA Dental Clinic

Sources:
http://www.va.gov/DENTAL/ptdentlinks.asp

http://www.va.gov/DENTAL/infoforpts.asp

http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/Library/pubs/Dental/

Iraq, Afghanistan War Veterans Struggle With Combat Trauma

By: David Wood

david.wood@huffingtonpost.com

HAVERHILLL, Mass. -- Before her life fell apart, before suicide began to sound like sweet release, Natasha Young was a tough and spirited and proud Marine.

Straight off the hardscrabble streets of Lawrence, Mass., a ruined mill town ravaged by poverty and drugs, she loved the Marine Corps' discipline, the hard work, the camaraderie, the honor of service to her country.

She went to war twice, the last time five years ago in western Iraq with a close-knit team of Marines who disabled IEDs, roadside bombs. It was nonstop work, dangerous, highly stressful and exhausting. Six of the Marines were killed in bomb blasts, each death a staggering gut-punch to the others. After they returned home the commander took his own life. Staff Sgt. Young broke down, too, spent physically, emotionally and mentally. Eventually, she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and, last October, was medically discharged from the Corps.

Having been a strong warrior, now she simply couldn't function. "I was ashamed of myself," she says in a whisper at her home in Haverhill, Mass.

Young is one of a generation of 2.4 million Americans who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, many of whom are coming back profoundly changed by what combat veteran and author Karl Marlantes described as the "soul-battering experience" of war.

The shock of war, of course, is hardly new. But now the cascade of combat veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is forcing mental health practitioners to a new recognition: the effects of combat trauma extend far beyond the traditional and narrow clinical diagnoses of PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI). The current crop of veterans is at risk of a "downward spiral" that leads to depression, substance abuse and sometimes suicide, as Eric Shinseki, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, said in a recent speech.

Almost a quarter million Iraq or Afghanistan vets have been diagnosed with mental health injuries from combat service. Many more are not diagnosed, yet go on with their lives while experiencing short-term memory loss, headaches, insomnia, anger or numbness -- conditions that can range from merely annoying to highly disruptive on the job and within the family. For some of them, hard work can temporarily mask these symptoms. But only temporarily.

"You can work through it [with therapy], or become a workaholic," says Tom Berger, who still suffers nightmares from his time as a medical corpsman with the 3rd Marine Division during bloody Vietnam fighting in the late 1960s. "Left untreated, you reinforce the trauma, so it makes sense to keep that loaded .357 [revolver] next to you on the car seat," adds Berger, who is a senior adviser on veterans health atVietnam Veterans of America.

Those who go to war, it turns out, carry the traumatic after-effects longer and deeper than previously recognized — perhaps for a lifetime.

At the Army medical center at Fort Gordon, Ga., Dr. John L. Rigg, director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Program, is treating active-duty soldiers complaining of headaches, mood swings, anger, insomnia, and memory loss as many as five years after they experienced concussive blasts in combat. They're still functioning, but they're struggling. "They're not getting better," says Rigg. "In fact, they may be getting worse."

With treatment, says Rigg, some can learn to manage.

"No one gets out unscathed," says Col. Katherine Platoni, a senior Army combat trauma psychologist with two battlefield tours in Iraq and Afghanistan who has seen and felt the deepening effects of combat trauma.

Large-scale U.S. military action is finished in Iraq and scheduled to wind down in Afghanistan. In those places, as President Obama has noted, "the tide of war is receding."

But at home, the tide of war is not receding for millions of veterans returning to a long, difficult and often dangerous transition back into civilian life, struggling to reconcile their searing combat experiences with a civilian society that largely disconnected itself from military service and now, according to polls, tired of war.

Like others leaving the ranks, Natasha Young's struggles with her psychological and emotional storms were compounded by the sudden decompression from the intensity of combat service. No one back home in the civilian world understood what she had gone through, or what she was going through.....

COMPLETE STORY HERE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/04/iraq-afghanistan-war-veterans-combat-trauma_n_1645701.html?org=403&org=403&lvl=100&ite=3928&lea=1891&ctr=0&par=1

Soldiers seeking routine medical care now get PTSD screening as well

By SETH ROBSON

Stars and Stripes

Published: July 5, 2012

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Studies show the average person with PTSD waits 12 years before being treated. Col. Charles Engel, a Walter Reed National Military Medical Center doctor, said each month 100,000 soldiers are screened for PTSD.

RUSSELL MIDORI/DVIDS

The Army is asking soldiers who go to the doctor for ailments such as back pain or colds to answer questions about depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in a bid to identify those who may need help.

About 63,000 soldiers out of 2 million screened during routine doctor appointments since 2007 have tested positive for previously unrecognized and untreated mental health problems, according to Col. Charles Engel, a Walter Reed National Military Medical Center doctor.

“The patients may be there for anything from a broken arm to an upper respiratory problem,” Engel told experts gathered at a recent meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. “Very seldom do people go to their primary care doctor just for stress or depression problems.”

Studies show that the average person with PTSD waits 12 years before being treated. As recently as 2004, only about a quarter of soldiers who were suffering from PTSD were getting specialized care, he said.

“We have a lot of people out there getting no care,” he said.

The program was started in 2007 by the Army Surgeon General, initially at 40 targeted primary care clinics. It now is offered at 88 out of 96 such clinics worldwide and the rest are to join the program this month, Engel said. Each month 100,000 soldiers are screened, he said.

Soldiers who go to the clinics for other health issues are asked to fill out a form with questions designed to identify people suffering from depression or PTSD, he said......

FULL STORY HERE: Soldiers seeking routine medical care now get PTSD screening as well - News - Stripes

Study: 25% of War Deaths Medically Preventable - (Under perfect medical conditions)

Thoughts on this? 

By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jun 28, 2012 16:04:10 EDT

A new study finds that nearly a quarter of the 4,596 combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2001 and 2011 were “potentially survivable,” meaning that under ideal conditions — and with the right equipment or latest medical techniques — the troops may have had a fighting chance.

But the study also notes that 90 percent of the deaths occurred before the injured reached a medical facility: of the 4,090 troops who suffered mortal wounds on the battlefield, 1,391 died instantly and 2,699 succumbed before arriving at a treatment center.

Just 506 service members made it to a field hospital before dying of injuries — an indication that military researchers should work to improve field treatment capability, says trauma surgeon Col. Brian Eastridge with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research.

“This study does not imply we are leaving our warriors on the battlefield languishing. ‘Potentially survivable’ implies there are potential improvements — areas we may look to where we could alter outcomes so they don’t die in the immediate phase,” Eastridge said.

Combat survivability is at an all-time high in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Ten percent of all injuries resulted in death, as opposed to Vietnam, where the fatality rate was 16.1 percent, or World War II, with a 19.1 percent fatality rate.

But there is more the military medical community can do to improve outcomes, Eastridge argues.

“There’s a tremendous amount of information we can gain and potentially improve clinical care if we know why casualties die on the battlefield,” he said.

Among the potential fields for more research is hemorrhage control: The study showed that uncontrolled blood loss was the leading cause of death in 90 percent of the potentially survivable battlefield cases and in 80 percent of those who died in a military treatment facility.

“Bleed-outs” — especially those caused by groin or neck wounds — torment medics, corpsmen and physicians who can do little to stanch blood loss caused by major arterial injuries.

Two devices, the Combat Ready Clamp and Abdominal Aortic Tourniquet, have been built to treat these injuries, but the Combat Ready Clamp, now being fielded, is primarily for treating single groin or pelvic injuries and is ineffective against wounds involving the genital region or the loss of both legs.

COMPLETE STORY HERE: Study: 25% of war deaths medically preventable - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times