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Dental and Optical Assistance — $1,500 a Year for Teeth, $600 for Eyes

Income- and asset-tested help with routine dental and optical care at the provider of your choice, with separate lifetime authorisations of up to $4,000 for dentures and $2,500 for the extractions that precede them.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Up to $1,500 a year of dental care and $600 of optical care, per person

The two are separate benefits with the same income and asset test, so a household meeting the test can draw both — $2,100 a year between them.
Dependants are covered as well as the veteran, so a family can draw considerably more than the headline figure.
Dentures and extractions sit outside the annual figure: up to $4,000 for dentures and up to $2,500 for the extractions needed to fit them, as LIFETIME authorisations whose unused balance carries into later years.

Who is entitled to it

You are the veteran, or the surviving spouse of one.
The discharge was honorable, or general under honorable conditions.
Your home is in Minnesota.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1Check the income and asset test first, because it decides everything. A household of one is limited to $10,000 in assets and $2,608 a month in income; a household of two or more is limited to $18,000 in assets, with the monthly income limit rising through $3,525 at two, $4,442 at three, $5,358 at four and on to $10,858 at ten.
2Apply through your County Veterans Service Officer. If your county office cannot assist, MDVA’s Field Operations team will.
3Choose your own provider. MDVA pays the dentist or optician you pick, up to $1,500 a year for routine dental care and up to $600 a year for an eye examination, refraction and prescription eyewear including contact lenses.
4Ask specifically about dentures if you need them. Where your dentist certifies dentures are necessary, MDVA issues an additional authorisation of up to $4,000, plus up to $2,500 for extractions in preparation — and an unused balance carries forward to later years.
5Mind the 12-month clock. It starts from the first date of service MDVA paid in your last benefit period, so the date on your invoice, not the date on your application, sets when you can come back.
6Ask about the other SSAP activities at the same appointment. Meeting this test usually means you also meet it for optical, dental, the relief grant and disaster relief.

File with: Your County Veterans Service Officer
Documents you will need: dd214 · proof of income · proof of assets
Annual recertification: The 12-month clock runs from the first date of service MDVA paid for in your previous benefit period, not from the calendar year.

CorrectionThe denture money is not part of the $1,500. It is a separate lifetime authorisation of up to $4,000, with up to $2,500 more for the extractions that precede it — and the balance rolls forward rather than expiring each year.

Worth knowingThe asset limit jumps from $10,000 to $18,000 between a household of one and a household of two, and then stops moving. A larger household gets more room on income but no more room on assets.

Worth knowingDependants are covered, not just the veteran. A family that reads this as a single-person benefit will under-claim it.

Known gapThe income and asset figures come from the schedule of maximum monthly allowances, which the commissioner republishes each January under Minn. R. 9055.0315. These are the figures MDVA was publishing on 22 August 2026.

Sources

authority · regulationMinn. R. 9055.0320 — State soldiers assistance program dental and optical program activities
operating · published policyMDVA — Dental Assistance, with the income and asset schedule
operating · published policyMDVA — Optical Assistance, with the income and asset schedule

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.