If you're in the National Guard/Reserves, what steps can you take to get the military to pay for wisdom teeth extractions?

2019-02-13T09:58:27-05:00

I'm a class 3 dental because of my stupid wisdom teeth! They don't hurt and I otherwise don't have a single cavity. However my wisdom teeth HAVE TO COME OUT! With my civilian insurance, It'll cost me $150 a tooth. I do ok but I can't afford that! Are there any options to get the military to help with this?

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2019 10:04 AM

2019-02-13T10:04:56-05:00

Yea. Your LHI Voucher to get you off Class 3 and get you deployable again. Talk with your CoC because I am surprised you haven't been hounded by your Command for this. Being a Class 3 means you're non-deployable and are making a big red mark on the metrics for your commander which means your Commander is getting beat up by the BN CDR. Or, you can start here to see what gears need to get turning:

https://logisticshealth.com/military-health-readiness.aspx

LHI: Military Health Readiness

At LHI, we are proud to help our Armed Forces satisfy the medical readiness requirements that allow them to meet any challenge. Supported by a nationwide network of providers, we provide the highest level of care with customized solutions that can support a single Service member or a group of 2,000.

Response by FN Kenneth Finks made Feb 13 at 2019 10:22 AM

2019-02-13T10:22:48-05:00

If your 100% service connected or are homeless it is free and you just need to make an appointment at a VA clinic or hospital that has a dentist office

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Feb 13 at 2019 11:14 AM

2019-02-13T11:14:40-05:00

Lemme offer you a couple of thoughts, such as they are, OK? I'd been clinical doctoral level allied health, I'm total perm disabled now, we shut my license sevl yrs ago, I wasn't medical, or dental, though I should have been, and had chances to be...long story, obviously...anway, here's the thing: I was bugged to get all four of my wisdoms out, as, for whatever crazy reason, there seems quite often to be some sort of prevailing sentiment that they're either unneccessary, don't grow in properly, being skewed against the molars in front, or occluding the bite of the mandible against the maxilla, the lower jaw against the upper, I've seen some things on that, albeit not enough to be expert, certainly, by any stretch of imagination, OK? Here are my thoughts about that notion, such as they are, purely from the use end, having refused every effort to bug me to do it, also, my wife had God knows how many extractions, which I've watched be done, when I'd looked at going for dentistry, plus, my Mom had all four of hers out by oral surgery, which is the preferable way, under either conscious sedation, possibly, or nitrous oxide, my point is, doing that is oral surgery stuff, general dental can do it, whether they'd gone through either a GPR or AEGD, the primary care dental residencies, however, malocclusions for wisdoms is, as I've read, largely oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) meat, grist for their mill. All that being said, humor me, indulge me if you will, and elaborate, so far as possible, about how far you've taken the whole thing? Did you see any OMFS yet about it thus far? Periodontics? Endodontics? Have you had a panoramic X-ray digital imaging done of your entire jaw, which is state of the art for most routine initial dental imaging yet? Further, if you have them all out, apart from the pain, bone pretty much always recedes from the sockets where teeth are extracted, flattening out...we've considered implants for my wife, however, they're ungodly expensive if done in the U.S., we've read about overseas lower costs for doing such dental stuff...however, they do tend to loosen, my 96-y/o mother-in-law had one or two, it or they loosened on here, the posts typically have hydroxyapatite coatings, with holes, to let them fill in, yet, apparently, while I think she had that type, I'm not entirely sure, one or more of them still loosened. I vowed, having watched what my Mom and Dad both went through with their dental stuff, that i would NEVER, EVER, PERIOD, have virtually ANY extractions, the end, cut and dry, that was it. Now, I entirely grant that I might be making rather a mountain out of a molehill here, however, if you can have periodontic and/or endodontic surgery, maybe having an OMFS take you into an OR and correct the malocclusion, assuming you'd have the insurance, or could see if VA could do it, either at one of their facilities, or at affiliated teaching hospitals, which all VA hospitals are required by law to affiliate with, then, most certainly, I would very most definitely DO it, if you can. At absolute minimum, I would get a second opinion, a third, as many as are needed, to preserve them. Trust me, I'd also get an otorhinolaryngology (ENT) consult, as well as have one or more OMFS take a look, as, generally, at least, I think generally, most teeth can often be salvaged by adequate surgical technique, and/or sufficiently advanced procedures. If you'd have such malocclusion correction done in OR, trust me, for the most part, you'd be under either conscious sedation, and/or general anesthesia, have the problem properly corrected so you MIGHT not lose your wisdom teeth, and, hopefully, that MIGHT be the end of it. I only thought to relate all of that, as typically, the kneejerk reaction, I've gathered, is to simply yank them. Dental roots can break off and need to be drilled out, you might also need a root canal procedure (which I've had only once, on a lower right molar, that had an excessively large filling, cracked, got a crown on it, porcelain with a gold base, cracked again, leaving too little dentin behind, too close to the pulp chamber, which was why the root canal had to be done). Having the files inserted into the root canals by the general dentist we use, who is actually also O-4 in the NY ARNG, was ungodly painful, which is why, should I EVER need it again, or my wife, I'd positively INSIST it'd be done in OR, by an OMFS. Look up orthognathic surgery, the very pinnacle of OMFS, most major academic med centers, esp. affiliated with VA, often have them, they do explicitly craniofacial abnormalities, and are quite frequently MDs (allopaths) or DOs (osteopaths), as well as possibly Ph.D.s in either oral biology and/or dental materials. I completely fathom what you've likely been told, which is why, if you could possibly elaborate, I'd certainly be most eager to hear more. Also, your insurance circumstance might necessitate your using VA, and/or VA Choice, if at all possible, if either could be allowed, as then you'd pay zip, hopefully. My point is, regardless of the pain, unless you're explicitly told by expert opinion that the procedures MUST be done, and I completely admit I might be wrong, you should certainly go by the opinions of those treating you, those are the things I've observed, and the conclusions I've reached, with regard to having extractions of that type. ENTs often work closely with OMFS and other dentals for malocclusion problems, which is why I'd suggest such an eval by med ENTs also. There are also oral dental appliances one can wear at night, e.g., those used to prevent bruxing (grinding of teeth at night while asleep), that one of my younger brothers has needed to look into, due to enamel erosion stemming from it, as well as due to GI acid reflux, I'm fairly certain he has GERD, as do I, though not as severe. Please understand, I'm merely suggesting various alternatives to you, given my exposure purely as a patient, and on the basis of my reading, I am not a physician, nor was I ever, nor a dentist, as I'd said, I merely have, due to my clinical allied-health doctoral-level exposure before my disability, plus having very nearly gone for dentistry (for which I frequently kick myself on a daily basis), looked into such problems quite carefully, looking at serious clinical journal literature on such topics, purely out of scientific interest, for the most part. As I'd said, I could well be wrong, plus, your individual circumstances might well in fact actually necessitate that you in fact have all four extractions. However, on the purely off chance that getting further clinical opinions of the types I'd described might do any possible good, that was why I figured I'd try to relate as much as I possibly could, at least from the patient end, if nothing else, if only to give you some perspective...after my Mom had all four of hers out at once in an office by an OMFS under nitrous oxide (N2O), I believe, she was totally zonked out for something like 3-4 days, aside from needing serious analgesics...I grant that was obviously decades ago, certainly, however, I saw what happened when she had them done, recall it vividly, and also saw all the stuff my Dad needed when he had to get a partial denture, plus, my wife also had just about everything yanked for lack of money, and not having been able to take the time to research the whole thing in greater depth...I'd be most eager to know your thoughts, and hope all of that was at least of some benefit, so far as might've been possible to convey, no rush, whenever might be convenient for you to answer...as I'd said, I'm by no means an expert, nor would I even remotely imply that to be the case...however, our dentist and I have chatted many times over a quite protracted period, on a quite serious clinical level, as he knew and knows of my interest in such things, which was also why I'd thought you might possibly benefit from whatever user-end insights I might possibly be able to convey here, you understand, many thanks; I am by no means at all suggesting that the opinions you've gotten thus far are wrong, of course, and, as you'd said, you might need to still have the procedures done, even after getting such further clinical consults as I'd suggested, assuming, of course, that you'd have the time, and/or be able to afford and/or arrange them, obviously, by all means.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Feb 13 at 2019 11:17 AM

2019-02-13T11:17:50-05:00

And I did also just see you'd said you were having no pain, or dental caries (cavities) in them, which I also found of interest, certainly, given you were explicitly told they needed to be extracted. Please understand, I've had no problems with mine, despite the prevailing wisdom I'd encountered to have them removed, however, I, obviously, might well be the proverbial exception to the common rule, I'm certain there must've been reasons you were told as much, which is also why, if you could possibly elaborate at all so far as possible, I'd be most genuinely interested to hear more, by all means, whenever convenient, as I'd said, many thanks once again.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2019 12:43 PM

2019-02-13T12:43:41-05:00

Need to bring this is up to your OCS cadre ASAP. This can hold you up especially when getting your Chapter 2 physical. During your PHA QA/QC didn’t bring up the voucher to get them removed ?

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Feb 13 at 2019 1:36 PM

2019-02-13T13:36:39-05:00

I also saw you're apparently in OCS, I think we might've chatted before, I seem to recall that...honestly, I'd also, if there's a hospital at Ft. Benning, or wherever you are, I'm assuming you're at the main OCS, not one of the state ARNG OCS programs, if you are correct me, I'd most definitely see if you could go over to OMFS and ENT at whatever active duty hospital is near you, and/or possibly whatever VA and/or academically affiliated facilities, major teaching hospitals, are nearby...document the whole thing, ask to be examined, to check for any off-axis growth of the teeth, get checked for any malocclusion, see if the clinical staffs would want to image you again, and if the still insist, and are still nagging you to get it done, then, if you're having no problems, ask to appeal the matter to the clinical senior staff, medical and dental, or raised higher in AMEDD or Dental Corps, to ask for a determination, quite honestly, those are the very best suggestions I can think up at the moment...you could always ask all three of your Congress offices as well, if need be, purely as an added thought, however, and/or possibly asking the chaplain and/or patient ombudsman staff attached to social work to intercede, though I quite honestly think it shouldn't need to get to that level, one would hope, you know?

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Feb 13 at 2019 1:39 PM

2019-02-13T13:39:48-05:00

And I just also saw you'd mentioned ARNG/USAR, so I'm gathering you're apparently in, I gather one of the state ARNG OCS programs, I'm assuming...I seem to recall we might've chatted about that aspect, as I'd said, I only just now noticed you'd mentioned that....

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2019 6:33 PM

2019-02-13T18:33:47-05:00

I don't know the answer (looks like SSG Livingston is fairly certain, though), but I have another question I've long wondered about: What is the Army's fascination with wisdom teeth? They were spun up about that 25 years ago. I don't get it.

Response by FN Kenneth Finks made Feb 13 at 2019 9:17 PM

2019-02-13T21:17:44-05:00

Talk to the company commander of the National Guard/Reserve to see what can be done about this. Doesn't hurt to ask the upper Command they will know more.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 17 at 2019 8:41 AM

2019-02-17T08:41:08-05:00

If the army says its Class 3 according to the paperwork submitted from LHI then it is the responsibility of the army to correct the deficiency to make you green medically again. The unit should be the one submitting the voucher for the removal and you just confirm your info in LHI and set the appointment. I find it odd your unit hasn’t been on top of it. It won’t come out of your pocket is my point.

You can always obtain a second opinion if you feel that this is BS (kinda is) but it is pretty hard to reverse a class 3 to class 2 once it’s in paperwork. As annoying as it is, I would just get it done through LHI so that the army covers it - also the army technically should be paying youto go to your LHI appointments so that’s a plus too.