British dental journal
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British dental journal · Apr 2021
Does prevention-focused dental care provision during recruit training reduce adverse dental outcomes in UK Armed Forces personnel? A retrospective cohort analysis.
Background Dental emergencies experienced during military operations may render individuals unable to operate effectively. To minimise this risk, UK Armed Forces (UKAF) recruits receive a prevention-focused dental care intervention during military training (known as 'Project MOLAR') before their entry to the trained strength of the Armed Forces. Aim To evaluate whether Project MOLAR is effective in preventing future dental emergency events and subsequent oral disease in UKAF recruits. ⋯ The total follow-up time for the cohort was 31,957 person-years (mean follow-up 4.3 years/recruit). Individuals whose treatment was completed under Project MOLAR were found to experience a 30% reduction in dental emergency incidence (RR: 0.70-95% CI: 0.63-0.76) (p <0.001) and a 64% reduction in the odds of DMFT increase at 18 months (OR: 0.36-95% CI: 0.28-0.47) (p <0.001) compared to individuals whose treatment was incomplete. Conclusions Defence dentistry's focus on delivering prevention-focused dentistry early in a recruit's military career confers a downstream benefit to personnel who complete the intervention, such that dental emergency occurrences and DMFT progression are significantly reduced.