a dental C&P exam not related to the disability claim

[AFWifeAZ]

My husband filed his disability claim last OCT 2020 for high grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. No other updates until June 2021 when he was scheduled for a c&p exam for dental. We are confuse if this is a normal procedure to get one which is completely not related to his illness. Is anyone experience this? is this a good or bad news on his claim? 

Thank you!

[GBArmy]

Hi AFWifeAZ welcome to Hadit. The dental exam is part of the VA's ajudication process as they want to develop his case, which includes how it originates.  It may seem not to be related, but we don't know that. Part of the exam includes evaluating residual symptoms from the cancer. Is your husband a Vietnam veteran and is he claiming it as presumptive to Agent Orange? That would be hard as it is NOT presumptive, but still could possibly be proven the cause if you have a good IMO from his specialist. In anycase, be sure he attends the C&P exam, or he will be denied right up front. I would call and talk to the C&P examiner office and find out more details as to why it is for "dental", but more important, find out what the instructions are from the VA for them to determine. It would help a great deal if you can find out from them what dbq they will be using on the exam so you can be more prepared.

[Buck52]

AFWife AZ

GB Army, I believe 

Veterans who served (1) boots on the ground in Vietnam, (2) in Vietnam’s inland waterways, or (3) in Vietnam’s territorial seas (Blue Water Navy veterans) between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975 are eligible to receive VA disability benefits for the above-mentioned cancers on a presumptive basis.

Also

 Bladder cancer is listed as one of the presumptive conditions for veterans exposed to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune. Veterans who developed cancer of the bladder after living at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune or Marine Corps Air Station New River for at least 30 days (consecutively nor nonconsecutively) between August 1953 and December 1987 may be presumptively service-connected for their bladder cancer

Has he been diagnose with hypertension/that is associated with Bladder Cancer /so it can be a residual to BLADDER C/ hypertension  

 

 if he has been denied  you guys may want to call this Attorney CCK Law

https://cck-law.com/blog/how-does-the-va-rate-bla 

If your husband used the military dental while in the military it maybe possible his dental records might reveal a diseases that maybe related to his bladder cancer? X-Ray s -chemotherapy radiation ,is said to be the cause or in relation to bladder cancer and this maybe why he was scheduled for the C&P?  MAYBE AND MAYBE NOT?

Edited June 28, 2021 by Buck52

[toddt]

Looking up "mucoepidermoid carcinoma" it appears to be substantially related to the salivary glands.  I would venture to guess that the c&p dental exam would be to see if his salivary glands were affected.  However, it seems to me that a salivary gland exam would be done by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor - I believe the new term for ENT doctors is:  "Otolaryngologist".    If you want to do a lot of reading of BVA decisions here is a link to every board decision since 1992:   The Board of Veterans' Appeals Decision search results (va.gov) 

[Berta]

There are quite a few decisions at the BVA on this disability.

Here is a recent award:

https://www.va.gov/vetapp20/files7/20047121.txt

This statement in the award indicates to me that this can be a dental related issue:

"For the following reasons, the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran’s mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the left posterior palate was related to exposure to depleted uranium in service."

Does your husband have an established nexus ( link) to his service?

The decision contains a lot of good information:

In part:

"The Veteran’s statements and the evidence of record regarding exposure to depleted uranium in service are competent and credible, particularly in light of the Veteran’s Military Occupational Specialty as an Armor Crewman and his confirmed service in Iraq.  Accordingly, the Veteran’s statements regarding his in-service exposure to depleted uranium are credible and consistent with the circumstances of his service.  38 U.S.C. § 1154(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a) (each disabling condition for which a Veteran seeks service connection must be considered based on factors including the basis of places, types, and circumstances of service as shown by service record).  Therefore, the in-service injury or disease requirement has been met.  

The medical literature submitted by the Veteran and his representative notes that there is a relationship between exposure to large amounts of depleted uranium and mucoepidermoid carcinoma.  The Court has indicated that treatise evidence may suffice to establish nexus in instances where “standing alone, [it] discusses generic relationships with a degree of certainty such that, under the facts of a specific case, there is at least plausible causality based upon objective facts rather than on an unsubstantiated lay medical opinion.”  Sacks v. West, 11 Vet. App. 314, 317 (1998).  The literature here discusses the relationship between depleted uranium exposure and mucoepidermoid carcinoma with a degree of certainty that there is at least plausible causality large amounts of radiation exposure can cause mucoepidermoid carcinoma, even more so given that the Veteran did not have a family history of mucoepidermoid carcinoma and was under the age of 30 when given the diagnosis.  Therefore, this literature is of significant probative weight pursuant to the reasoning of Sacks.  A VA examination was not conducted in this matter."

and:

"For the foregoing reasons, the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran’s mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the left posterior palate was related to his in-service uranium exposure.  As the reasonable doubt created by this relative equipoise in the evidence must be resolved in favor of the Veteran, entitlement to service connection for mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the left posterior palate is warranted.  38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102."
 

[AFWifeAZ]

8 hours ago, toddt said:

Looking up "mucoepidermoid carcinoma" it appears to be substantially related to the salivary glands.  I would venture to guess that the c&p dental exam would be to see if his salivary glands were affected.  However, it seems to me that a salivary gland exam would be done by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor - I believe the new term for ENT doctors is:  "Otolaryngologist".    If you want to do a lot of reading of BVA decisions here is a link to every board decision since 1992:   The Board of Veterans' Appeals Decision search results (va.gov) 

thank you for the link, we will start reading it through..

[AFWifeAZ]

18 hours ago, GBArmy said:

Hi AFWifeAZ welcome to Hadit. The dental exam is part of the VA's ajudication process as they want to develop his case, which includes how it originates.  It may seem not to be related, but we don't know that. Part of the exam includes evaluating residual symptoms from the cancer. Is your husband a Vietnam veteran and is he claiming it as presumptive to Agent Orange? That would be hard as it is NOT presumptive, but still could possibly be proven the cause if you have a good IMO from his specialist. In anycase, be sure he attends the C&P exam, or he will be denied right up front. I would call and talk to the C&P examiner office and find out more details as to why it is for "dental", but more important, find out what the instructions are from the VA for them to determine. It would help a great deal if you can find out from them what dbq they will be using on the exam so you can be more prepared.

thank you for your advice. so we will be expecting another set of C&P exam for him that is related to his condition? he is not a Vietnam vet. he was called for a c&p exam a day after the call so we didn't prepare anything at all.