An Evaluation of U.S. Navy Dental Corps Classification Guidelines

Abstract

The aims of this research were to evaluate the effectiveness of two different sets of dental classification guidelines to differentiate dental emergency (DE) rates between deployable and nondeployable personnel. A retrospective study of the dental records of two cohorts of Marine Corps recruits examined and treated using different classification guidelines was completed. Both classification systems showed significant differences between DE rates of nondeployable and deployable personnel. No statistical difference was observed when comparing the adjusted HRs of the two cohorts. Results of this study suggest that both guidelines are able to distinguish between deployable and nondeployable personnel and give reasonable assurance that class 1 and 2 patients will not experience a DE for a 6-month period. Incorporating factors such as caries risk, number of missing and filled teeth, and number of third molars may improve the ability of the dental classification systems in predicting DE.