Evening star., 1953-04-17
Veterans and
Druftees
By Moi. Thomos M. Mol

that can be traced directly to
your armed forces duty, the
Veterans Administration is sup
posed to give you free treatment
for it.
Before it does that, however,
it's going to make sure that the
condition for which you need
treatment is directly connected
with your service. In most cases
this is fairly easy.
Suppose you file an applica-
tion for treatment. VA dentists
get out your service medical rec
ords. Among them is a dental
chart showing the condition Of
your teeth when you went into
service-fillings, missing teeth,
cavities and so on. There is a
similar chart showing the condi-
ton of your teeth when you were
discharged.
The dentists check the two
charts against your records Of
dental work done in service. Sup
pose they find your teeth were in
perfect condition when you went
in-no Filings, cavities or miss
ing teeth-but that when you
got out, you had had four teeth
filled.
The VA then calls you in. If
it finds that you need work on
all four of those teeth it will au-
thorize the work to be done.
These teeth, and any conditions
the VA feels are caused by them,
will then be treated by the VA,
if you request it, for the rest of
your life.
Treatment May Extend.
Once this service connection is
established, there's no end to the
possible treatment you might
get. All your teeth are closely re-
lated, and it won't always be
possible to confine treatment to
those with service-connected de-
fectS.
Suppose, for example, one of
the teeth had to be pulled. The
VA is obliged to fill the space.
But it quickly finds that it can't
unless it also fills spaces left by
the teeth on each side of this
tooth. These other two were
pulled when you were in civilian
life. but the VA must provide re-
placements for all three. That's
what the law provides and that's
what the VA tries to do.
This could lead to a situation
in which a veteran with one
service-connected tooth could
end up getting a full set of false
teeth free. It occasionally hap
pens.
Obviously the VA doctors are
going to run into lot of cases
in which it will be tough to de-
eide whether a dental condition
can be traced directly to a vet
eran's service duty.
Apply at VA Office.
For instance, you may have
hao cavities which needed filling
before you went in. These were
filled in the service, but later on
still while you were in the
service-the teeth had to be
pulled because the Filings were
no good. The VA is left to decide
whether this condition would be
service ce-connected.
Any veteran who has tooth
trouble he feels is directly con-
nected with his service should
file an application for treatment
with the nearest VA office. AS
things stand now. however,
chances are he won't get imme-
diate treatment unless he's an
emergency case, even if the VA
decides he has a right to free
care.
There's a big backlog of vet
e"ens waiting. The VA says Con-
greSs hasn't provided the neces-
sary money to operate the dental
program to answer all the need
for trea tment. Whether this sit
uation is likely to change, only
Congress can say. The VA says
it needs some "a million dollars
to take care of all the men now
awaiting treatment.
(You may 1Drite Maj. Mai,
in care of The Star, about
your own Service-connected
problem. Please incloSe a
stamped, self-addreSsed en-
Uelope.)
(Fron AP NewSfeatlIreS)