Risk Indicators of Urgent and Extensive Dental Treatment Needs in U.S. Air Force Recruits

Dental Readiness Classifications (DRCs) enable the Military Health System to prioritize dental care in garrison, minimizing dental emergencies and mission degradation during deployments. Over half (52.4%) of 2008 military recruits presented with high-priority urgent needs classified as DRC3 upon initial dental examination and 18.1% required extensive treatment, needing 7 or more restorations, in order to achieve operational dental readiness. The purpose of this study is to identify risk indicators for urgent and extensive dental treatment needs in current U.S. Air Force (USAF) recruits so that Dental Corps leadership can target interventions to maximize oral health, prioritize resources, and reduce health expenditures in this patient population.

A secondary data analysis was performed of deidentified survey and clinical exam data from the 2018 to 2019 USAF Recruit Oral Health Surveillance study conducted at Lackland Air Force Base from February 2018 to February 2019. Select demographic and self-reported variables were analyzed with two outcome variables: urgent (DRC3) and urgent and extensive (DRC3 + 7) dental treatment needs. Univariate log binomial regression was performed to determine relative risk of DRC3 and DRC3 + 7 by independent variable. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences institutional review board approved the study as an exempt protocol.

Among the 1,335 recruits studied, the overall prevalence of urgent dental needs was 21.5%, whereas 5.5% of participants had both urgent and extensive needs. The study group included participants who were mostly male (69%), were non-Hispanic white (60%), aged 17 to 19 years (48%), were high school educated (47%), had private dental insurance coverage (50%) and self-reported: no need for dental care in the past year (65%), excellent or good condition of teeth (63%), were toothbrushing more than once a day (58%), and had daily consumption of one to three servings of sugary beverages (62%) and foods (69%). Statistically significant differences in relative risk for DRC3 were found for all independent variables except gender and education level. Risk indicators significant for DRC3 and DRC3 + 7 were aged 25 to 29 years; Other and Black race/ethnicity; Medicaid insurance; uninsured; self-reported fair, poor, or unsure current condition of teeth; and past year needed care but did not go (P < .05). The majority of DRC3 and DRC3 + 7 cases were in the small subset of recruits who self-reported fair, poor, or unknown current condition of teeth or need for dental care in the past year without a dental visit.

Among USAF recruits, oral health disparities are observed in certain groups. The study findings can inform targeted utilization of resources and interventions to efficiently optimize oral health and operational dental readiness and decrease dental expenditures. Additionally, a two-question screening tool is proposed to facilitate priority assignment for dental examination during boot camp. This tool has the potential to correctly identify nearly 90% of those with urgent and extensive dental treatment needs at half the typical workload.