Teeth and Eyes After the Uniform: The FEDVIP Door

TLDR

Your TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) ends at 11:59 p.m. on your date of separation or retirement — for you AND your family, at the same moment. No tail, no grace period.
The replacement for retirees is the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), a separate federal dental and vision program — not a TRICARE plan.
The enrollment window opens 31 days BEFORE you retire, while TDP is still running — that's how you avoid a gap.
Miss the window, and the next chance is Federal Benefits Open Season, once a year.

The day your military dental ends

TDP ends at 11:59 p.m. on the date of your separation or retirement. That's the exact moment — not "sometime after," not a few weeks of wind-down. This applies to you and your family at the same time. Your family doesn't keep a few extra days of coverage after you do; it ends for everyone at once.

The replacement: FEDVIP

FEDVIP — the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program — is administered through BENEFEDS, not through TRICARE. This is a separate federal program.

If you're retiring from active duty, you become newly eligible for FEDVIP dental. FEDVIP vision eligibility requires something more: you also have to be enrolled in a TRICARE health plan.

Who's eligible: retired uniformed service members; eligible retiree family members; eligible survivors; Medal of Honor recipients and their eligible family; Retired Reserve members age 60 and older; and gray-area Retired Reserve members under 60 who aren't yet receiving retired pay.

Here's the part worth saying plainly: there is no free, TRICARE-run retiree dental benefit. The TRICARE dental benefit you've had is an active-duty benefit, and it ends with your service. FEDVIP premiums are paid by you, the enrollee — for retirees, typically by allotment from retired pay, when funds and allotment capacity allow.

The window, and the seam

The retiree FEDVIP enrollment window runs from 31 days before your retirement date through 60 days after it. That's the whole window — both ends matter.

This window opens while your TDP coverage is still active. That overlap is intentional, and it's your move: enroll before you retire, and your FEDVIP coverage can be in place before your TDP coverage ends — no gap between the two.

Miss the full window — past the 60 days after retirement — and your next opportunity is Federal Benefits Open Season: annually, from the Monday of the second full workweek in November through the Monday of the second full workweek in December. That's a long wait if you miss it by a week.

The traps

Assuming TDP continues for a while after you retire. It ends at 11:59 p.m. on the date — no grace period.
Assuming your family keeps TDP a little longer than you do. Same moment, same end, for both.
Waiting until after retirement to think about dental coverage. The window opened 31 days before your retirement date — by the time you've separated, part of your window is already gone.
Missing the 60-day tail after retirement and assuming there's another near-term chance. There isn't — it's Open Season from there.
Expecting a free or TRICARE-run retiree dental plan to pick up where TDP left off. There is none. FEDVIP premiums come out of your own pocket.
If you're separating rather than retiring: don't assume this retiree FEDVIP door applies to you. The eligibility list above doesn't include separating members, and that's not an oversight to work around.

Where to go

BENEFEDS — for FEDVIP enrollment.
Your retirement transition office — for timing this around your actual retirement date.