First-term dental readiness

Abstract

Army recruits have high levels of dental disease, and traditionally the dental needs of soldiers have not been addressed until the soldiers arrive at their first permanent duty station. Today's expeditionary Army requires that soldiers be fully deployable. This article addresses an initiative (called First-Term Dental Readiness) aimed at providing dental care in the initial training of a soldier's career, implementation of pilot programs at Fort Sill and Fort Knox, and the lessons learned from those pilot programs.