(1) Outpatient dental services and treatment, and related dental appliances, shall be furnished under this section only for a dental condition or disability
(A) which is service-connected and compensable in degree;
(B) which is service-connected, but not compensable in degree, but only if
(i) the dental condition or disability is shown to have been in existence at the time of the veterans discharge or release from active military, naval, or air service;
(ii) the veteran had served on active duty for a period of not less than 180 days or, in the case of a veteran who served on active duty during the Persian Gulf War, 90 days immediately before such discharge or release;
(iii) application for treatment is made within 90 days after such discharge or release, except that
(I) in the case of a veteran who reentered active military, naval, or air service within 90 days after the date of such veterans prior discharge or release from such service, application may be made within 90 days from the date of such veterans subsequent discharge or release from such service, and
(II) if a disqualifying discharge or release has been corrected by competent authority, application may be made within 90 days after the date of correction; and
(iv) the veterans certificate of discharge or release from active duty does not bear a certification that the veteran was provided, within the 90-day period immediately before the date of such discharge or release, a complete dental examination (including dental X-rays) and all appropriate dental services and treatment indicated by the examination to be needed;
(C) which is a service-connected dental condition or disability due to combat wounds or other service trauma, or of a former prisoner of war;
(D) which is associated with and is aggravating a disability resulting from some other disease or injury which was incurred in or aggravated by active military, naval, or air service;
(E) which is a non-service-connected condition or disability of a veteran for which treatment was begun while such veteran was receiving hospital care under this chapter and such services and treatment are reasonably necessary to complete such treatment;
(F) from which a veteran who is a former prisoner of war is suffering;
(G) from which a veteran who has a service-connected disability rated as total is suffering; or
(H) the treatment of which is medically necessary
(i) in preparation for hospital admission, or
(ii) for a veteran otherwise receiving care or services under this chapter.
(3) The total amount which the Secretary may expend for furnishing, during any twelve-month period, outpatient dental services, treatment, or related dental appliances to a veteran under this section through private facilities for which the Secretary has contracted under clause (1), (2), or (5) of section
1703 (a) of this title may not exceed $1,000 unless the Secretary determines, prior to the furnishing of such services, treatment, or appliances and based on an examination of the veteran by a dentist employed by the Department (or, in an area where no such dentist is available, by a dentist conducting such examination under a contract or fee arrangement), that the furnishing of such services, treatment, or appliances at such cost is reasonably necessary.
(4)
(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, in any year in which the Presidents Budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1 of such year includes an amount for expenditures for contract dental care under the provisions of this subsection and section
1703 of this title during such fiscal year in excess of the level of expenditures made for such purpose during fiscal year 1978, the Secretary shall, not later than February 15 of such year, submit a report to the appropriate committees of the Congress justifying the requested level of expenditures for contract dental care and explaining why the application of the criteria prescribed in section
1703 of this title for contracting with private facilities and in the second sentence of section
1710 (c) of this title for furnishing incidental dental care to hospitalized veterans will not preclude the need for expenditures for contract dental care in excess of the fiscal year 1978 level of expenditures for such purpose. In any case in which the amount included in the Presidents Budget for any fiscal year for expenditures for contract dental care under such provisions is not in excess of the level of expenditures made for such purpose during fiscal year 1978 and the Secretary determines after the date of submission of such budget and before the end of such fiscal year that the level of expenditures for such contract dental care during such fiscal year will exceed the fiscal year 1978 level of expenditures, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the Congress containing both a justification (with respect to the projected level of expenditures for such fiscal year) and an explanation as required in the preceding sentence in the case of a report submitted pursuant to such sentence. Any report submitted pursuant to this paragraph shall include a comment by the Secretary on the effect of the application of the criteria prescribed in the second sentence of section
1710 (c) of this title for furnishing incidental dental care to hospitalized veterans.
(B) A report under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph with respect to a fiscal year is not required if, in the documents submitted by the Secretary to the Congress in justification for the amounts included for Department programs in the Presidents Budget, the Secretary specifies with respect to contract dental care described in such subparagraph
(i) the actual level of expenditures for such care in the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which such Budget is submitted;
(ii) a current estimate of the level of expenditures for such care in the fiscal year in which such Budget is submitted; and
(iii) the amount included in such Budget for such care.
