Can I get reimbursed

[brendanhm1]

Situation:
-I am a reservist
-going to start predeployment soon (either 2 weeks, or about a month depends on dates)
-To be fully DAG'd green I need my wisdoms out.

As a reservist the military dentist won't pull them (not covered). Civillian dentist costs are going to be around $2000. Im covered with about $500 out of my own pocket.

Can I get the $500 back at any point? And does anyone have any suggestions as to how I go about this.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

We do have a Reserve Dental Plan........

 

[chris_log]

Since you're going on tour you should be on Class C, which makes you covered under the CF dental plan. So wait until you're on Class C and start pre-deployment training and then get them pulled by a military dentist.

You're not expected to show up fully DAG'd green.

 

[c4th]

If you do get them out civvy, sign for a Class A day. 

 

[Michael OLeary]

Would anyone like to get off the good idea bus and maybe provide the originator with a reference he can take to the Orderly Room?

 

[Rheostatic]

Reserve Dental Care Plan Administrative Instructions
Go to your OR and ask a clerk to assign you a policy number. If they don't have claim forms, then download one form the net (they're standardized across the country). I love the reserve dental plan.

E: may have spoke too soon:

Class C Reservists are not entitled to participate in the RDCP. Instead, they may cover their dependants under another component of the CF Dental Care Plan: the Dependants Dental Care Plan (policy #55777).

E2: It seems Cl C reserves get the same dental treatment as Regs. Anyway here's a link.

 

[Monsoon]

E2: It seems Cl C reserves get the same dental treatment as Regs.

But the problem is that he's not on class C yet - in fact he won't even get on class C until he DAGs completely, creating a delicious little catch-22.

References are thin on the ground as regards reservists on class A DAGing for class C service (and indeed everything else relating to medical entitlements/requirements), but there does exist a fund to cover expenses like this: the Support to Deployed Operations Account. Your OR will have to ask its HQ for access to an SDOA fin code so they will be able to reimburse expenses like this using it (and also re-coup the class A pay related to your DAG).

 

[ICFY95]

You may already have the answer for this but.... get a second opinion about needing your wisdom teeth out.  Military Dentists seem to love yanking them "just in case" but many dentists will have a look and say you can keep them.  Several dentists have told me I've needed mine out even though they are in good shape and cause me no problems.  Each time I've asked the dentist why it was necessary, and each time the dentist has said that it was actually a recommendation not a requirement. 

Same thing happened to me while DAG'ing for a coming deployment, and again the dentist backed off when I started asking why....  Ive had the teeth for 42 years, and don't intend on giving them up as long as they are not giving me problems.

 

[PuckChaser]

I was in a similar situation, required a whole whack of dental work and wisdom teeth out to DAG Green (worked out to 5 2 hour appts). What my unit and employing unit worked out was that they would put me on Cl B over 180 days to start predeployment training. Cl B over 180 entitles you to CF Dental care at the CDU. If I could not DAG Green Dental, the employing unit would cut my Cl B short and I would lose the tour. I got everything I needed done. The Dental Unit even snuck me in for a "recruitment dental" in order to figure out what I needed to have done, and book the appts.

 

[Blackadder1916]

.... get a second opinion about needing your wisdom teeth out.  Military Dentists seem to love yanking them "just in case" . . .

Your experience with military dentists is completely different from mine.  Though now retired, I was probably seen by twenty different dentists while serving (rarely had the same one year to year for my annual check-ups); in all those contacts never once did a dentist even mention my "third molars" let alone recommend wanking them.  But then military dental (or medical) practice is not much different from their civilian counterparts - except location, patient base and payment for service.  They both attend the same schools and may thus develop a similar clinical philosophy.  Though some controversy surrounds the practice of prophylactic extraction of wisdom teeth, it is still common (more so in North America and some other western developed regions).  I had never noticed any great number of soldiers having then wanked but your experience may be different.  The multiple dentists recommending taking yours out may be similar to my experience with multiple military dentists (but with an opposite result).  Though you may not be having any current problems with your teeth or gums, the dentists may have seen some indicators that suggested the recommendation (but not strong enough indicators to make an issue of it when you objected).  If you had seen the same dentist from year to year (who becomes very familiar with both you and your teeth) then the issue may not have been re-raised every time you saw a dentist.  While I rarely had complaints about the quality of dental care I received in the military, I do recognize (comparing it to the civvy dentists I've seen since) that continuity of care (specifically establishing a patient/dentist  relationship) can be less than ideal.

I have a personal example of the problems that can result on military ops from wisdom teeth.  Many years ago when I was still a Med A, I was temporarily "way up north" providing med support.  The one major med problem that I had to deal with was a young soldier who still had his wisdom teeth.  He had previously never had any problems with them.  One had partially erupted - there was still a partial flap over the tooth - which (though far from ideal) can still can be relatively trouble free if very conscientious oral hygiene is practiced paying particular care to clean/rinse under the flap.  While deployed up north this tooth began to give him problems - very painful problems.  Immediate evacuation was not an option, and analgesics and antibiotics were only partiallly (and minimally) effective.  Though challenging and interesting (and thus fun) for me, the immediate remedy was less fun for the patient.  Directed telephonically by a military dentist down south, I had to make an incision in the tooth flap to relieve the pressure and clean out the debris that had been trapped underneath.  It did provide some pain relief but the soldier was still mostly non-effective until he was evac'ed several days later.

While a "second opinion" could be of benefit for the opening poster, it should be noted that (since he does not have military dental benefits save perhaps the RDCP), he would be responsible for the additional fees that another dentist would charge to evaluate his situation.

 

[brendanhm1]

But the problem is that he's not on class C yet - in fact he won't even get on class C until he DAGs completely, creating a delicious little catch-22.

References are thin on the ground as regards reservists on class A DAGing for class C service (and indeed everything else relating to medical entitlements/requirements), but there does exist a fund to cover expenses like this: the Support to Deployed Operations Account. Your OR will have to ask its HQ for access to an SDOA fin code so they will be able to reimburse expenses like this using it (and also re-coup the class A pay related to your DAG).

Before I address this quote, Ill update you all.

-Wisdoms need to be removed before going to Afghanistan because you can't get dental work done over their. Partially erupted wisdom teeth are prone to infection, therefore they must be removed. A military dentist will not DAG you green with partially erupted wisdom teeth. Their is no second opinion ( I did try.)

-My chain of command, as well as many others have told me that you are required to be DAGd green prior to arrival at predeployment. This puts me in a tough situation where I require an expensive operation, but I cannot afford it.

Now whether or not I should have waited to start my predeployment before getting my dental work done is irrelevant. I already got my teeth removed on Monday.  The balance I owe is approximately $1000. The insurance covered far less than my parents and I expected unfortunately.

So in regards to the above quote ^, is this what I should mention to my clerk on Monday when I go in to sign my contracts? "Support to Deployed Operations Account."  Please confirm and give any additional details.

Thanks for advice so far.

 

[brendanhm1]

I was in a similar situation, required a whole whack of dental work and wisdom teeth out to DAG Green (worked out to 5 2 hour appts). What my unit and employing unit worked out was that they would put me on Cl B over 180 days to start predeployment training. Cl B over 180 entitles you to CF Dental care at the CDU. If I could not DAG Green Dental, the employing unit would cut my Cl B short and I would lose the tour. I got everything I needed done. The Dental Unit even snuck me in for a "recruitment dental" in order to figure out what I needed to have done, and book the appts.

Thats a good work around, BUT I start predep in two weeks.

 

[George Wallace]

Thats a good work around, BUT I start predep in two weeks.

So?  You are not on a Class B of over 180 days?

If you are on Class A, you will have to pay out of your own pocket; no reimbursement.

If you are on Class B, under 180 days, you will have to pay out of your own pocket; no reimbursement.

If you are on Class B, over 180 days, you should go to the military Dental Clinic.  If you go to your own personal Dentist, you, again, pay out of your own pocket; no reimbursement, unless sent there officially by a military Dental Unit.

That is the way I understand the Regulations.  If you want to buck the system, go ahead, but don't be surprised when you are told "NO!".

 

[brendanhm1]

Well, then what about the "Support to Deployed Operations Account" that hamiltongs mentioned.

 

[George Wallace]

Are you on a Class B yet?

When do you figure you MAY become Class C?

You may become neither.  In the end, you would not be reimbursed. 

Have you followed hamiltongs advice and asked your OR, or have you only persisted in asking us non-RMS clerical staff people who have no access to the documents of which he speaks?


[Note:  He suggested that 15 days ago.]

 

[brendanhm1]

Are you on a Class B yet?

No. Why would I be.

When do you figure you MAY become Class C?

In two weeks.

Have you followed hamiltongs advice and asked your OR, or have you only persisted in asking us non-RMS clerical staff people who have no access to the documents of which he speaks?

No I have not had a chance yet. Why you have such an interest in what I ask in a public forum baffles me. It seems logical to me to ask other military members who have been in similar circumstances and see what they did.

 

[George Wallace]

Right!

You have been given advice.  Whether you choose to follow it or not, we have no control.  Apparently, in two weeks you have failed to do so..........So:


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