Should Guard/Reserve Members have to pay for yearly Dental Exams?

2015-07-13T22:06:50-04:00

Should the Guard pay for a members mandatory yearly dental exam or should the member have to pay. Why or why not?

Response by COL Jon Thompson made Jul 13 at 2015 10:14 PM

2015-07-13T22:14:23-04:00

Doesn't the Guard do that? For the Army Reserve, we had to be 100% on our medical readiness so they paid for an exam. Any work would have to be paid by the Soldier but at least the exam was free.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jul 13 at 2015 10:30 PM

2015-07-13T22:30:36-04:00

Nice to see the Army does pony up an exam. The Navy Reserve does exams as well. For years I had the best of both worlds. I'd pick up my dental record and have my dentist out in town (also a Navy Dentist) just fill that one out as well when I got my regular exams and cleaning. It made life easier.

I will say the Guard is established under different statues, hence there are likely variations in what they provide. I wouldn't be surprised if medical is run differently.

Response by TSgt Kenneth Ellis made Jul 13 at 2015 10:37 PM

2015-07-13T22:37:27-04:00

Yes, I presume that the dentist works at the base hospital and is going to be paid eithere way. If e sees one person or ten.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 27 at 2016 10:27 AM

2016-09-27T10:27:01-04:00

If they want their readiness to be up to date, dental is one of the major hold ups when in processing for a mob, if their soldiers are good to go then they have to spend less time in medical.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 27 at 2016 11:22 AM

2016-09-27T11:22:05-04:00

The yearly dental exams don't do anything. They look around and give you a classification. They don't even do a cleaning. I wouldn't pay my civilian dentist for so little. No way am I going to make a Soldier pay for an exam that is just going to have to be re-done by a civilian dentist so they can fix the problems that the Army dentist didn't.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 27 at 2016 2:12 PM

2016-09-27T14:12:54-04:00

I've been in the Air Guard for 13 yrs now, and served 2 States in that time. I've always felt that since it is a military requirement, the military should cover it. We also have to have a 5 year exam, which our unit dentist "sometimes" performs, but if they are unable, the member has to use a certain group of outside providers. Their insurance might not be accepted at those providers, so member could incur much higher expenses. I've got a couple folks that got LOC & LOR because they didn't have insurance and couldn't get the problems fixed. Pretty unfair if you ask me....and you did. Military requirement should equal military money.

Response by MSgt Carl Longenecker made Sep 27 at 2016 7:31 PM

2016-09-27T19:31:06-04:00

I've been in the PA Air Guard for 12+ years and I have never had to pay for either the annual dental exam or the 5 year exam. The latter is always provided by my Wing medical, and the annual is provided through the Reserve Health Readiness Program (RHRP).

Response by LTC Charles T Dalbec made Oct 9 at 2016 9:44 PM

2016-10-09T21:44:45-04:00

Yes just like a yearly physical exam with their own PMC manager and reflect on DA Medical firm as required by Army Regulations