The Board denied service connection for a dental disorder other than lingual erosion of the incisors, but granted service connection for lingual erosion of the incisors as secondary to hiatal hernia with GERD. The Board also found that the veteran's hiatal hernia and GERD did not warrant an increased rating.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on a lack of evidence showing direct service connection or aggravation of dental conditions, but there was sufficient evidence to establish lingual erosion as secondary to the service-connected disability. The hiatal hernia with GERD did not meet criteria for a higher rating due to its mild symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- hiatal hernia with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), lingual erosion of the incisors, dental disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- January 12, 2009
- Citation
- 0901167
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,480 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0901167.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that a remand is necessary to correct a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error and obtain an examination for the Veteran's dental disorder claim.
- Partly granted
The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection of a dental disorder during the July 2024 hearing.,A new claim for service connection of bilateral hearing loss is warranted due to new evidence received since the prior denial.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for entitlement to service connection for a left foot disorder, right foot disorder, dental disorder, and respiratory disorder due to new evidence submitted by the Veteran.
- Denied
The Veteran's service connection claim for a dental disorder, including missing teeth due to jaw surgery during service, was denied as the evidence did not support a finding of service trauma or malpractice.
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