Dental Disease Prevention

The Fit 2 Bite web page contains current dental fitness and oral health information including links to other U.S. Army resources, such as the U.S. Army Dental Command and the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine's "Bite Site".

"Every soldier is important to mission accomplishment. A unit cannot afford to lose key personnel from leadership positions or low density military occupational specialties because of dental emergencies."

The Stop Tobacco Shop

Dental Readiness Fact Sheets

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Featured USACHPPM Dental Readiness Resource
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Q   Why is good preventive dental health so important?

A   Dental fitness is critical to unit readiness. Operations in a hostile, austere environment with limited support often cannot accommodate dental emergencies. Under these conditions, a unit cannot afford to lose soldiers because of disease and non-battle injuries (DNBI). "The Department of Defense dental classification guideline was established as an aid to commanders, military dental health professionals, and service members. Its importance was highlighted by a study that related dental emergency rate and dental fitness classification. Dental class 1 soldiers, those with the best dental health, had an emergency rate of 61 dental emergencies per 1000 soldiers per year. Dental class 2 soldiers had an emergency rate of 145 dental emergencies per 1000 soldiers per year and class 3 soldiers suffered a rate of 530 dental emergencies per 1000 soldiers per year. (1) Clearly good dental health is a force multiplier." Although 70% of dental emergencies are preventable, dental diseases have historically accounted for approximately 20% of DNBIs. General Information knows that one lesson learned from Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm is the importance of dental readiness. Of over 150,000 Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers processed by dental facilities in the continental United States, over 33,000 soldiers required dental treatment and over 40,500 soldiers required panographic radiographs (X-rays). This dental processing severely stressed mobilization of soldiers.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST MOBILIZATIONS: There is little time for dental treatment during mobilization and deployment. A high level of premobilization dental readiness and dental preparedness reduces mobilization dental processing and treatment time. A high level of dental readiness reduces the number of soldiers who develop dental emergencies during deployment.

Q   How is dental readiness determined?

A   The Department of Defense Oral Health* and Readiness Classification System is the primary measure of a soldier's dental readiness. The purpose of this Classification System is to help commanders estimate how many of their soldiers are likely to require treatment for dental emergencies during a deployment. Commanders can minimize personnel losses to treatment or MEDEVAC by ensuring that as many soldiers as possible are Dental Class 1 prior to deployment.

CLASS 1 Soldier has had a complete dental exam within the past year Soldier does not require any dental care CLASS 2 Soldier requires some type of dental care or re-check Examples: Simple fillings Dental cleaning Simple wisdom tooth extraction CLASS 3 Soldier requires dental care as soon as possible A dental emergency is likely to occur if the condition is not corrected Examples: Badly decayed teeth Severe gum disease Root canal Painful or diseased wisdom tooth Soldier is not deployable CLASS 4 Soldier requires a complete dental exam Disease status is unknown Soldier is not deployable

* Oral Health - The health of your entire mouth, not just your teeth. The mouth includes the teeth and the gums (gingiva), ligaments, muscles and jaw bones. It also includes the tongue, the lining of the mouth and throat, salivary glands and lymph nodes.

Soldier brushing his teeth at Marine Expeditionary Camp-Pohang, Republic of Korea.

Practice good dental hygiene and have regular check ups.

Make sure that you are or become a CLASS 1 or 2 soldier.

Maintain and make dental readiness a priority.

Oral hygiene aids are available in the Ration Supplement, Sundries Pack Type I (Also available in the post exchange-Tactical Field Exchange).

 
For information on Dental Health see:
USACHPPM: Oral Fitness Program

For information on Dental Benefits see:
HOOAH 4 HEALTH: Benefits Signpost