Evening star., 1953-09-04
Veterans and
Druftees
By Moi. Thomos M. Mol

Administration on the spot.
This showed up when the VA
recently announced new, sitter
eligibility requirements for al
lowing dental care to veterans.
The changes were made because
Congress had changed the law
providing for treatment.
A veteran can get treatment
under the new requirements for
dental trouble he can trace dl-
rectly to his military service or Is
found to be aggravating dis
ability he received in service.
Under the old requirements. he
could also get free treatment II
he could trace his dental trouble
to a condition which showed up
within a year after he left the
service.
The VA not only must change
the rules for new applicants. 1t
must also apply the new require
ments to a backlog of 10000
veterans who already had been
promised free treatment under
the old rules. The backlog re-
suited because Congress didn't
provide the VA with enough
money to take care of the vet
erans as they applied and were
found eligible under the old
rules.
Must Send Notices.
One VA official has estimated
that about half the 250,000 will
be found ineligible for treat
ment under the new rules. Now
the VA must send out notices to
thousands of veterans telling
them they're no longer eligible.
If you're among the veterans
who were eligible under the old
rules, about the only thing you
can do is wait until the VA
checks your medical records toy
see whether you're eligible under
the new rules.
If you've never applied for
treatment. but may need to in
the future, here's how the VA
will determine whether you're
eligible:
First you must submit an ap-
plication. Then the VA will get
out your service medical records. |
It will compare the dental rec
ord that was made of your teeth |
when you went into service with |
the record which was made !
when you left the service.
If the VA finds that you had |
teeth fixed in service. it will |
call you in. Then, it will check |
to see whether your present |
trouble is connected with those |
teeth. If it is, you'll be author
lied to have the work done |
either at a VA dental clinic or |
by private dentist. The VA |
will pay the costs.
May Replace Teeth.
incidentally. if this service
connection is established there's
no end to the possible theatment
you might get All you teeth
are closely related, and it won't |
always be possible to conflne
treatment to those with service
connected defects.
Suppose. for example. one Of |
the teeth you had fixed in Serv-
ice must now be pulled. The VA
is obligated to fill the space |
Perhaps to do so it may have
to make completely new bridge
for your mouth. Or, il might
have to fill only the one space
The decision is left up to the
dentist who is doing the work.
If you feel that you can trace
present tooth trouble to YOUR
service, you may file an appli-
cation for treatment with the
nearest VA office. AS things
stand now you have a fairly
good chance of quick treatment
If you're eligible. The VA fig
ures it has enough money to
take care of the backlog 1t will
have under the new require
mentS and any new cases which
come up this year.
(You may 1brite to Maj. Mai,
IN care of The Star. about
pour o1Un SerUice- connected
problem. Please inclOSe a
stamped. eIf-addreSSed en-
VeIope and 20 cents in StGmpSJ
(From Associated Press Newsfeatures.l