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You are here: Skip Navigation LinksPHC Home > Topics & Services > Healthy Living > Oral Fitness
Oral Fitness 

Oral Fitness for Energy Intake and Communication

Oral Fitness/ Dental Readiness is essential for unit readiness.

The best way to maintain oral fitness is to prevent dental disease from developing in the first place.  The mouth is a strategic resource with essential functions:

  • Energy Intake (Sustainment)
  • Communication (Operations)

Oral diseases have a disruptive effect on mobilization and sustainment operations.

  • Time treating oral diseases or injuries detracts from unit maintenance and training.
  • Soldiers who are free of oral disease are up to 8 times less likely to require dental treatment during deployment.
  • Soldiers who maximize their Oral Fitness support the Army transformation to a more responsive, lethal, agile, versatile, survivable, and sustainable force.

Decay Risk Self-Check                                                                                                                                                                                          Do you know your chances of getting tooth decay? This short 10-question tool is designed to help you find out what you can do to decrease your risk.  This tool cannot diagnose any medical or dental condition.  Please contact your dental care provider regarding any specific concerns that you may have regarding your oral health. The information that you provide is strictly confidential.

 

Topics

Leaders and Oral Fitness

What is the Problem? Too many Army Soldiers have oral health problems. Only a percentage of Army Soldiers are Dental Class 1 with no dental treatment needs. The rest require some type of dental treatment. View all dental classifications in the Dental Readiness Classification System on the Soldier Oral Fitness page or on My Dental on AKO . Why should I care? Soldiers will do their best when they f... (more)

Mouth Protection Program - Oral Fitness

Mouth Protection Program Mouth injuries often result in pain, lost time from work for treatment, and facial disfigurement. Tooth loss due to injuries is more common among Army Soldiers than among members of the other branches of service. These injuries can be prevented. A USAPHC review found that: Use of mouthguards can reduce dental and orofacial injuries by almost two thirds (60% fewer inj... (more)

Oral Health for Healthcare Providers

What is the Health Care Provider’s Role in Oral Health?  All health care providers should make sure that their patients understand the importance of maintaining good oral health. Every health care provider is “on the front line” in the war against oral disease, not just dental health care providers. Research findings are confirming associations between chronic oral diseases and nutritional deficie... (more)

Soldier Oral Fitness

Who has the most control over a Soldier’s Dental Readiness?  It is the Soldier.  You control whether you get cavities or not.  Most oral disease is preventable with proper hygiene and diet. What is Oral Health? It is the health of your entire mouth, not just your teeth. The mouth includes the teeth and the gums (gingiva), ligaments, muscles and jawbones. It also includes the tongue, the lining ... (more)

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