The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a dental disorder, finding no evidence that his gum disease or periodontal disease was incurred in or aggravated by military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found less than a 50% probability that the Veteran's chronic advanced periodontal disease and caries were proximately due to an infection during service as a result of dental treatment, attributing his condition more likely to bacteria present from infancy and not related to in-service dental trauma.
- Claimed conditions
- gum disease, periodontal disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 18, 2009
- Citation
- 0910174
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for tooth decay and gum disease due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error regarding proper notification for an examination.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right shoulder condition, bilateral toenail fungus and athlete's foot, pseudofolliculitis barbae, and furuncle incision and drainage healed scar (claimed as cyst removal on buttocks with scar), but denied an increased rating in excess of 50 percent for sleep apnea with asthma associated with allergic rhinitis. The claims for service connection for prostate cancer and gum disease were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a dental disability for compensation purposes and remanded the claims for service connection for a dental disability for treatment purposes and gum disease.
- Partly granted
The claim for service connection for a dental condition, to include periodontal disease, was reopened based on new and material evidence but not fully granted.
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