Methods: During basic training, all recruits were examined and graded according to priority for treatment determined by the urgency of their dental treatment needs. The subjects were recalled to the dental office during the basic training period according to the urgency and priority grade. The same base headquarters personnel that were not screened and attended the dental clinic on their own initiative served as a control group.
Results: A total of 475 subjects were evaluated; 312 in the test group and 163 in the control group. When evaluating treatment performed according to priorities, 94.2% of urgent-graded treatments were completed in the test group as opposed to only 72.8% urgent-graded treatments that were completed in the control group. As for the medium-graded treatments, these proportions were 66.6% and 40.7% for the test and control groups respectively. The number of treatment meetings utilized for urgent-graded treatments were 56.7% and 53.1% from all treatment meetings for the test and control groups respectively.
Conclusions: Efficient method for dental screening and treatment guidance might result in better resource utilization which will lead to an appropriate treatment for basic trainees during basic training period. This will lead to an improvement in the basic trainees' dental health and will enable emergency free military service after basic training.