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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/medical requirments in air force
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Question
I am trying to join the air force after my degree(officer or enlisted), but I didn't know whether or not the retainer along with a slight, but fixed, cleft palate will disqualify me from joining. the retainer is a combination of a partial denture of my front teeth and then covers the roof of my mouth but I only have a little spot in the middle that is still open. I have had over 22 surgeries before the age of 18, and this is the most satisfactory I could accomplish. I have tried to get in touch with the air force doctors to see how I stand, but they don't seem to know who to send me to being that I am not in the military nor are my parents. If I was able to join, could I ever be made to get my defect corrected? But other than that, I do not have any other disqualifications from the 2006 air force disqualifications guide.
thank-you
casey
Hi Casey,
Under current medical standards, retainers and braces are not a disqualifying factor, as long as all active orthodonic work has already been accomplished.
See: http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/intmedstandards/bldental.htm
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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