The Board denied the Veteran's claims for restoration of a 20 percent disability rating and an increased rating for TMJ disability prior to February 5, 2013.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not reflect actual improvement in the Veteran's ability to function under ordinary conditions of life and work that was reasonably certain to be maintained without further examination or treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2015
- Citation
- 1515236
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 1515236.
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 has remanded the Veteran's claims for PTSD and TMJ disability due to incomplete verification of in-service stressors, need for additional VA examinations, and consideration of new evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 10 percent rating for the Veteran's TMJ disability from July 12, 2017 to September 30, 2020, but denied ratings in excess of 20% on and after September 30, 2020.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected temporomandibular joint disability was granted a 10 percent evaluation effective from February 5, 1999. The condition had previously been rated as noncompensable prior to that date.
- Partly granted
The veteran's service-connected TMJ disability was initially granted with a 20 percent rating prior to January 1, 2000. After that date, the disability was rated at 10 percent. The appeal is mixed as some issues were granted and others denied.
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