Dental cost of deploying a National Guard unit to Bosnia

To examine the dental readiness of a National Guard (NG) unit mobilizing to Bosnia, to estimate the civilian comparable cost for the necessary treatment to make the unit deployable, and to examine the effect on the active component (AC) dental readiness.

This study was a retrospective cohort analysis of dental fitness classifications (DFCs) and treatment provided for the 48th IN BDE (Mech) upon mobilization for a 6-month deployment to Bosnia. The NG unit mobilized through Fort Stewart, Georgia, from December 2000 through February 2001 en route to a 6-month deployment starting in February 2001. All soldiers received dental examinations and were classified in one of four DFCs. DFC 1 implies that the soldier has no dental treatment needs; DFC 2 indicates that the soldier needs dental treatment, but the condition is not expected to cause an emergency in the next 12 months; DFC 3 indicates that significant oral conditions present are expected to cause an emergency in the next 12 months; DFC 4 indicates that the soldier is in need of a dental examination. Dental treatment was provided for all DFC 3 soldiers. A database was created of DFCs of deploying soldiers upon arrival at the mobilization site and dental procedures performed.

This retrospective review identified 1,378 soldiers who processed through the dental station at the mobilization site. Soldiers DFCs were as follows: DFC 1, 7.8%; DFC 2, 50.1%; DFC 3, 35.8%; DFC 4, 6.2%. Direct costs to the Fort Stewart Dental Activity were $95,602. The services provided to treat the DFC 3 patients are valued at $441,471.

The dental readiness of this NG unit was greatly inferior to that of the AC, and there is a significant cost in personnel, dollars, and AC readiness to provide the needed dental treatment before mobilization.