Dental Care for Military Vets

[GetFreeDental]

Quick question ... I have been helping the poor for many years to find basic dental care and recently encountered a few military vets in need. The VA is handling their health needs but nothing for dental. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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[Mackchops]

Not all veterans are eligible for VA dental care. It has to do with their "service connection" or percentage of a health condition that has been attributed to military service. Some veterans have low service connections for whatever reason and don't qualify for dental. There are other qualifications as well - inpatients at a VA, homeless vets, etc.

You can tell your veteran patients to contact their local VA to inquire about dental eligibility.

 

[yappy]

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[GetFreeDental]

Not all veterans are eligible for VA dental care. It has to do with their "service connection" or percentage of a health condition that has been attributed to military service. Some veterans have low service connections for whatever reason and don't qualify for dental. There are other qualifications as well - inpatients at a VA, homeless vets, etc.

You can tell your veteran patients to contact their local VA to inquire about dental eligibility.

Thanks for the additional information! Just to confirm - the VA does offer dental eligibility for those who qualify? That is good news! I did not think the VA offered any dental coverage. Now I just need to chase down the qualifications, etc.🙂

 

[Quattro DMD]

In general you don't receive dental benefits from the VA unless you're a 100% disabled, a POW, or within three after you've returned from deployment. Someone correct me if I am wrong on this. We've been doing a lot of homeless veteran outreach through my school and it sucks because the majority of these men need full mouth extractions and dentures but it's virtually impossible to find dentists in the community to deliver free care.

 

[Mackchops]

In general you don't receive dental benefits from the VA unless you're a 100% disabled, a POW, or within three after you've returned from deployment. Someone correct me if I am wrong on this. We've been doing a lot of homeless veteran outreach through my school and it sucks because the majority of these men need full mouth extractions and dentures but it's virtually impossible to find dentists in the community to deliver free care.

You're right and you're wrong... it's not 100% "disabled", it's 100% service connected. All vets that are being seen at a VAMC should know what their service connection is. Essentially, it's what the VAMC eligibility people determine is the percentage of a particular condition (PTSD, pancreatic cancer, TBI, HTN, plantar wart), that is a direct result of military service. These vets are eligible for dental care and are not necessarily "disabled".

Additionally, a vet can be 60% service connected and deemed "unemployable" and qualify for dental.

As you mentioned, others qualify as well. Advising a vet to contact their local VAMC and ask about eligibility is the best bet. But if they are 100% service connected, they should qualify.