Technology-Based Strategy to Manage Periodontal Patients as Part of a Global Army Dental Care System

摘要

Periodontal diseases are generally chronic in nature. The prevalence of severe disease in an adult population, age 35 or greater, approaches 15-20%. Extrapolated to an active duty army of 480,000, periodontal disease is predicted to affect approximately 24,000 soldiers. Comprehensive treatment usually involves multiple appointments. Successful outcomes require indefinite supportive care. The highly mobile nature of our Army population and possible requirements to treat members of the Total Force on a global basis make the treatment of periodontal diseases difficult. The problem is compounded by a high operations tempo, remote assignments and frequent deployments. During operational deployments and remote assignments, access to specialists is either extremely limited or not available. Given the prevalence for a population age 35 and above, the majority of soldiers requiring treatment will be senior NCOs and field grade officers. If they do not receive needed treatment, these individuals are more likely to require emergency treatment, which may include evacuation from a theater of operations. Currently no mechanism allows dental commands to track the worldwide movement of periodontal patients. Advances in computers, Internet connectivity, and telecommunications provide the technology necessary to document the stage of treatment for a given patient and provide that information to the appropriate dental command. With improved tracking we can improve the health and readiness of our soldiers, decreasing the likelihood of emergency treatment that interferes with training and deployments. Effective treatment reduces overall costs to the military, making funds available for other programs.