Partial or complete absence of the tongue due to surgical removal, injury, or congenital condition.
For the 100% rating, medical records documenting that you cannot take any nutrition by mouth — such as records showing dependence on a feeding tube or other non-oral nutrition — directly support that level.
For the 60% rating, records showing a permanent swallowing impairment are key, along with a written prescription or order from a medical provider specifying a dietary modification required because of your tongue condition. This could include a swallowing study, imaging, or notes from a speech-language pathologist, paired with the provider's dietary prescription.
For the 30% rating, similar records showing permanent swallowing impairment apply, but here the evidence would reflect that no prescribed dietary modification has been required.
Across all levels, statements from you or people who know you describing how your swallowing difficulties affect eating, daily activities, and work can help show the severity of the functional impact. Because dietary modifications must be prescribed by a medical provider to count toward the 60% level, documentation of that prescription is essential at that rating tier.
Conditions that are often caused or made worse by this one. If you have any of these, they may be claimable as secondary service connection.
