The Board has determined that the Veteran's claimed dental disability of bottom teeth numbers 20 and 21 did not manifest during service or is etiologically related to a disease, injury, or event which occurred in service. As such, the claim for service connection is denied.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of bruxism (tooth grinding) in the Veteran's military records and concluded that it was less likely than not that the Veteran's missing teeth numbers 20 and 21 were incurred during active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- Trauma to bottom teeth numbers 20 and 21
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 10, 2017
- Citation
- 1732550
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 1732550.
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 is remanding the case for a VA dental examination to determine if the Veteran's missing bottom teeth numbers 20 and 21 are due to in-service trauma, specifically his reports of in-service tooth grinding as a result of stress. The issue will then be adjudicated again.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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