Oral Health Survey of the Military Personnel Deployed to the Southernmost Provinces of Thailand
Sirikarn Sutthavong DDS, MPH*, Supak Ukritchon MSc**, Ram Rangsin MD, Dr.PH***
Affiliation : * Dental Department, Phramongkutklao Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand ** Office of Research Development, Phramongkutklao College of Medicine, Bangkok, Thailand *** Department of Military and Community Medicine, Phramongkutklao College of Medicine, Bangkok, Thailand
Background : Dental problems are some of the major health problems of deployed military personnel. There have been no
systematically reports of oral health information survey among the deployed military personnel in Thailand.
Objective : The present study was to determine the oral health problems of the deployed military personnel and effects on
personnel fitness.
Material and Method: A cross-sectional study and a cluster sampling were conducted during April 2011 and March 2013.
The Royal Thai Army (RTA) personnel 12 out of 21 task forces in southern most provinces were invited to participate in the
study. A standardized questionnaire was used.
Results : In total, 2,884 RTA deployed personnel voluntarily participated and completed the questionnaire information. Their
mean age was 27.8+9.4 years old. Fifty percent admitted that they had oral problems during the past six months and the most
common ones were toothache/hypersensitivity (32.4%), and dental caries (21.5%). The majority of the participants (60.7%)
reported that they experienced oral health problems less than 3 times and 2.8% reported sick leave during deployment
because of oral conditions. 64.4% reported that their oral problems affected their quality of life and disturbed their duties.
Conclusion : A relatively high prevalence of oral health problems was reported by the deployed RTA personnel. The problems
affected their quality of life and assigned duties. Most of the problems were neglected. In order to keep the RTA personnel fit
for deployment, an effective dental health program should be developed.
Keywords : Oral health, Oral survey, Deployed military personnel, Southern most provinces, Thailand
