Your ability to move your jaw depends on a critical joint known as the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The TMJ connects your jawbone muscles to your skull, allowing for both vertical and horizontal jaw movement.
If this joint is not working as it should, it can significantly impact your ability to move your jaw. This can adversely affect your ability to open and close your mouth, chew, and swallow.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recognizes that TMJ disorder can impact daily life and considers it for a VA disability rating. Stone Rose Law assists veterans in filing initial and supplemental VA claims for TMJ disorder benefits, including monthly compensation.
If you are a military veteran who has been diagnosed with TMJ disorder and need assistance filing a claim for benefits, call us at (480) 498-8998 to talk with a veterans law specialist attorney. We can arrange a free consultation to discuss your case facts, the VA claims process, and VA rates for functional loss and pain in your jaw.
TMJ disorder, or TMJ dysfunction, causes pain in the joint, surrounding muscles, or both. Often temporary, it can usually be treated with self-care or non-surgical methods. However, in more severe cases, surgery may be necessary.
Multiple factors can cause TMJ disorder. However, the three most common sources are physical injury to the joint itself, stress from grinding teeth, and arthritis.
TMJ disorder can result from a direct injury to your jaw, head, or neck, such as a blow or other concussive force, like a blast effect.
Grinding of teeth is one of the effects that you can experience as a result of PTSD. This action can put unnatural stress on the TMJ that can lead to injury of the joint over time.
Arthritis can be both a cause and a symptom of TMJ.
TMJ disorder has several symptoms that you or your doctor can recognize. TMJ symptoms include:
The VA does not consider TMJ disorder a presumptive disability. This means that you must meet all the three major VA requirements to qualify for disability benefits:
Before receiving VA disability benefits for TMJ, veterans must establish a service connection. Your doctor will be a key ally in establishing a service connection by diagnosing and treating your TMJ disorder through range-of-motion tests and a CT scan.
The VA may also require you to undergo a compensation and pension (C&P) exam. In this exam, a VA examiner will examine your medical records and supporting documents, such as buddy statements, and seek additional information to establish whether you have a compensable disability and its severity.
Establishing claims for TMJ involves two common methods: a direct connection or a secondary connection.
A direct service connection means proving that it’s more likely than not that an event, such as a physical injury during your active duty, caused or worsened your TMJ disorder. If the condition existed before service but worsened due to it, it is considered a service connection by aggravation.
For example, you may have developed TMJ disorder after experiencing a traumatic event like a head injury or were near blast effects while in service. These events could have been the direct cause of the disorder and could be used as the foundation for a direct service connection-based disability claim.
A secondary service-connected TMJ VA disability arises because of another existing service-connected disability. You must have a formal diagnosis for the first and secondary conditions to qualify.
Service-connected PTSD that leads to teeth grinding, which in turn leads to a TMJ disorder, is a prime example of a secondary service connection.
The VA disability rating for a secondary service-connected TMJ disorder would become part of a combined disability rating. If you would like to learn how multiple disabilities combine into a single, combined VA rating, see our VA Disability Calculator.
In addition to being a possible secondary service-connected disability, TMJ disorder can also contribute to other conditions, some of which may qualify for VA monthly disability compensation or VA healthcare treatment.
For example, TMJ can be a factor in tinnitus with or without hearing loss, neck pain, and headaches.
If the VA accepts your service connection, it will assign you a TMJ VA disability rating. Depending on the severity of the disorder, the rating can be from 10% to 50%, with intermediate ratings of 20% and 30%.
Your TMJ disorder severity is based on how limited your range of up and down joint motion is in millimeters (interincisal movement) and how easily you can eat regular, “mechanically altered,” or liquid food.
Mechanically altered food is food that has been made easier to eat. This includes soft or semi-solid foods made by chopping, grinding, and mashing, as well as liquid and pureed foods. Your treating doctor must require you to eat mechanically altered foods as part of your TMJ disorder treatment plan for them to be a factor in establishing your VA rating.
Aside from how wide you can open your jaw, other factors the VA will consider include:
Here are the VA disability ratings for TMJ disorder in increasing degrees of severity.
The VA considers a normal range of interincisal movement to be 35 to 50 millimeters of maximum unassisted vertical opening.
At the 10% disability level, you are not subject to any dietary restrictions for treatment. You can open your jaw joint between 30 and 34 millimeters or only move your jaw side-to-side up to four millimeters (lateral excursion). This VA rating for TMJ disorder is also known as the “Painful Motion Rule” or the “Painful Motion Principle.”
At this level, one of two conditions applies to you:
Here, one of three conditions applies to you:
At this level, you can no longer open your mouth in the 30 to 34-millimeter range. Instead, one of three conditions will apply:
At this final level, you can only open your jaw up to 10 millimeters and are also on dietary restrictions.
Note that at any of these disability compensation ratings, you are also eligible for VA dental healthcare benefits.
At the Stone Rose Law Firm, our VA disability benefits attorneys have the knowledge and experience to help you with all your disability benefits claims, including for TMJ disorder. Whether it is an initial application for benefits or appealing a claim denial, our attorneys are ready to help you obtain the disability benefits you earned.
After consulting with an accredited Stone Rose Law VA disability benefits attorney, we will obtain a copy of your VA claims file and do a comprehensive review. We meticulously scour your record to find:
After reviewing your file and creating a plan for your initial claim, we will discuss our findings and recommendations.
If this is your first claim for VA disability benefits, we will assist you in preparing and filing a claim at no cost. We will monitor your claim, assist with preparing for C&P examinations, and advise you of any VA decisions as part of this free service.
Our attorneys have experience working with medical doctors, psychologists, and vocational examiners to obtain favorable opinions. Our attorneys have the experience to combat harmful examinations and counter with better medical evidence to ensure the highest rating possible.
Unfortunately, the VA denies about one-third of the initial benefit claims it receives. This is often because the VA overlooked evidence supporting the claim or the veteran did not provide enough evidence.
The good news is that many claim appeals can succeed with a simple statement from the veteran explaining how the injury occurred or by filing a supplemental claim.
To present a compelling appeal, it is essential to thoroughly understand VA regulations and procedures, how the VA applies them, and the time limit you must work within. This is what a Stone Rose Law disability claim denial lawyer will do for you.
A Stone Rose Law veterans disability lawyer will know what goes into making the strongest and most persuasive possible appeal on your behalf, so you do not have to.
Our law firm is accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs to represent veterans and is admitted to practice VA disability law before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. When you hire our law office to represent you in your VA claim, you can be confident that your VA disability lawyer will have the experience, competence, and resources to aggressively fight for your claim throughout the VA appeals process.
A Stone Rose Law VA disability lawyer can help you prepare your TMJ Disorder disability claim, monitor your claim status, and consult with you before disability examinations—all at no cost.
If the VA denies your original claim, our VA benefits law firm will assign a VA disability appeals lawyer to help you pursue a VA appeal with the Board of Veterans Appeals while providing free representation on a contingency fee basis.
For more information about how one of our VA disability lawyers can help you with your VA disability compensation claim or appeal, request a free assistance consultation at (480) 498-8998 or reach us online.
