Dental treatment on a German warship during a three-month deployment.

INTRODUCTION: Despite routine dental screenings and treatments before military deployments, dental emergencies may arise due to acute infections, trauma or failed restorations. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the dental service during a three-month deployment on a German warship. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of dental attendances and treatments in a German naval task group of three ships with an average total of 650 soldiers. Diagnosis, treatments performed, percentage of emergencies, routine procedures and numbers of appointments were recorded. RESULTS: Out of 650 soldiers, there were 71 patients (10.92%) with a mean age of 25.1 ±5 .3 years. Out of 136 treatments, 17.65% were for emergency treatment, which is equivalent to 3.69% of all servicemen of the task group. Combining the reasons for dental emergencies, 95.84% were caused by caries. CONCLUSIONS: The pre-screening of sailors before an overseas deployment is necessary to avoid severe dental treatments. Caries remains the main cause for dental emergencies, and medical doctors should be trained to treat caries lesions if a dentist is not on board.

[About improvement of outpatient dental health service for young serviceman].

The article gives a detailed account of results of epidemiological survey of dental morbidity in young serviceman and different types of outpatient dental health service needs. Medical norms for dispensary supply with all types of outpatient dental health service for young servicemen are estimated. Suggestions for improvement of organizational and staff structure of dental office of medical company are formulated.

Evaluation of field dental equipment in a deployment environment.

Dental officers and technicians must have reliable, durable, well-performing field dental equipment to enable them to provide dental care to deployed troops in operational environments. Unfortunately, no organized program exists to test such equipment before its purchase and use in the field. This article presents the results of a project conducted by the Naval Institute for Dental and Biomedical Research and the Air Force Dental Evaluation and Consultation Service to evaluate commercially available field dental equipment through laboratory testing and clinical-user evaluations in theater. The purpose of this 2-year project was to identify the best-performing and most cost-effective field dental equipment for possible future procurement. Initial laboratory testing was performed at the Naval Institute for Dental and Biomedical Research, and the equipment was then shipped to Kuwait for in-theater environmental and clinical-user testing. A seven-member scientific team of military dental officers and technicians was deployed for 1 month to perform in-theater testing under regional environmental conditions and to coordinate clinical-user evaluations. The testing provided beneficial results by identifying equipment that performed properly and equipment that exhibited shortcomings serious enough to render it inadequate for operational use. It is recommended that the project serve as a model for future testing and evaluation of medical/dental equipment by all of the military services.

Information yield from a hand-held dental x-ray unit.

The information yield from a hand-held radiographic unit was compared with that of a conventional dental x-ray unit. Ten observers were asked to detect radiographic details on films taken of a test object at eight different exposure settings with each radiographic unit. The viewers detected significantly more details on three films generated with the experimental unit. No significant difference was demonstrated in the number of details observed with either unit at the remaining exposure settings.

Infection control of field dental units.

The need for infection control procedures exists for dental care provided outside of dental treatment facilities. In a wartime scenario or during military training exercises, traditional dental clinic settings may not be available and the dental officer will be required to treat patients using equipment provided by the Army's Table of Organization and Equipment. This article reviews the dental literature and makes recommendations to aid the dental officer in developing an infection-control protocol for field dental equipment.