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To determine the prevalence amng current U.S. Army recruits of dental conditions requiring treatment, an assessment was done of the dental care needs of a 3 percent sample (N = 5,613) of incoming recruits at all seven U.S. Army reception stations that operate under a dental treatment planning concept. Both the treatment needs of the total sample and of each Army component--that is, Regular, Reserve, and National Guard forces--were quantified. The results indicated that the requirement for dental care among Army recruits currently being processed for training is approximately the same as it was for such recruits at the time that the Selective Service System draft was in effect, although the types of care needed have changed. Like the draft-based recruits, current Army recruits enter active-duty status with a substantial backlog of unmet dental care needs.

Public Health Reports