Use of the Army Dental Command Corporate Dental Application as an electronic dental record in the Iraq theater of operations

More than 97% of the dental encounters in Iraq between June 2009 and July 2010 were captured on an electronic dental record. Data from more than 56,000 patient encounters, with detailed treatment notes, and 19,000 DNBI surveys indicates that caries accounted for 22.5% of the dental emergency visits, pulpal disease requiring endodontic (root canal) therapy accounted for 20%, and visits associated with wisdom teeth (third molars) accounted for 4.2%. This data, in combination with the large numbers of one dental officer clinics, indicates that every dental officer must be proficient in endodontic and exodontia diagnosis and treatment. There is evidence that Dental Fitness Category 3 definitions should be revised.