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First-term dental readiness.
Jeffrey G Chaffin1, William Bachand, Robert Wilhelm
1Dental Corps, U.S. Army Dental Command, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234, USA.
Military Medicine
|March 15, 2006
Summary
Army recruits often have significant dental issues. A new initiative, First-Term Dental Readiness, aims to provide dental care during initial training to ensure soldiers are deployable.
Area of Science:
- Military medicine
- Dental public health
Background:
- Army recruits exhibit high prevalence of dental disease.
- Traditional dental readiness assessment occurs late in a soldier's career.
- Expeditionary Army demands full soldier deployability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the First-Term Dental Readiness initiative.
- To report on pilot program implementation at Fort Sill and Fort Knox.
- To share lessons learned from initial dental readiness efforts.
Main Methods:
- The First-Term Dental Readiness initiative was developed.
- Pilot programs were implemented during initial soldier training.
- Data and observations were collected from pilot sites.
Main Results:
- Early dental intervention addresses recruit dental needs.
- Pilot programs provided insights into implementation challenges and successes.
- Lessons learned inform future dental readiness strategies.
Conclusions:
- Proactive dental care during initial training is crucial for soldier readiness.
- The First-Term Dental Readiness initiative shows promise for improving military dental health.
- Optimizing dental readiness early enhances overall force deployability.