Intervention Program for Enhancing Dental Readiness during Basic Training

Objectives: To report on an intervention program for enhancing fighters' dental health during Basic Training. Methods: Dental classification was used to predict dental emergencies in operational setting. During their first week of basic training, the fighters were classified according to clinical/radiological examination to four classes. The Surgeon General Headquarters adopted a policy of early treatment of class 3/4 (worse) conditions during basic training, with uniform reporting system and central supervision. Results: Classes 3 and 4 comprised 13.3% and 19.3% of the recruits at baseline, respectively. The program is held in all IDF recruit training bases. Main outcome measure was the proportion of recruits who were reclassified as 1/2 (i.e. no or mild dental/gingival disease with no apparent risk for dental emergency) at the end of the 6-month basic training, out of all recruits who were originally classified as 3/4; this measure was 66.1% and 74.5%, during 2009 and 2010, respectively, in comparison to 49.4% during 2007-2008, before strict program implantation (p<0.001). Conclusions: Since most fighters will be deployed without close dental support, successfully bringing this population to adequate dental status is one of the most important and unique missions of the military dental officers. The proposed intervention program will also help in reducing emergencies during training and military service.