The TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) is a voluntary, high-quality, cost-effective dental care benefit for eligible Family members of all active duty Soldiers as well as Reserve Component service members and/or their Families. TDP is offered by the Department of Defense (DoD) through the TRICARE Management Activity (TMA). The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) administers and underwrites TDP for the TMA as of May 1, 2012.
The return home from combat can often leave servicemembers feeling out of place with the most important people in their lives - their families.
"In deployment, Soldiers grow accustomed to a new lifestyle and a new 'family' - those buddies that bond together to defend each other," said Maj. Ken Williams, 14th Military Police Brigade chaplain. "This lifestyle change is prolonged and becomes familiar, i.e., the new normal."
The families also change while the Soldier is deployed.
"The family is a system," Williams said. "When one family member is absent, the whole system changes. All members of the family adapt to a new 'normal' way of life."
When the servicemember returns, the family may feel uncomfortable with each other, and the servicemember may withdraw from the family.
