U.S. Army

Dental Corps

A soldier who can't eat can't fight. A dental emergency in a combat zone is a medevac mission that puts more lives at risk. From Civil War recruits who couldn't bite a cartridge to maxillofacial surgeons rebuilding faces shattered by IEDs, the Army Dental Corps has kept the force dentally fit and combat ready for over a century. Dental readiness is a deployment gate. Class 3 means you don't go.

"Pro Deo et Humanitate" Est. 1911

EST. MARCH 3, 1911

Army Dental Corps

Dental Readiness = Combat Readiness

Army Medical Dept

Dental Officer AOC

A soldier who can't eat can't fight. A soldier with a dental emergency in a combat zone is a casualty and a medevac mission that puts more lives at risk. The Army Dental Corps exists to ensure that never happens. Dental readiness is a deployment gate — Class 3 or 4 dental status means non-deployable. Every soldier who has ever deployed has sat in a dental chair first. The Dental Corps has been keeping the Army in the fight since 1911. Read more

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Before the Corps 1775 – 1911

BITE THE CARTRIDGE

The Cartridge Problem

Civil War — Teeth as a Military Requirement

Loaded · Paper Cartridge

Tear Cartridge Open

IF TEETH MISSING

During the Civil War, soldiers loaded muzzle-loading rifles by biting open paper cartridges and pouring the powder down the barrel. A recruit without front teeth couldn't bite the cartridge — and was rejected for service. Dental fitness was literally a requirement to fire a weapon. Some men pulled their own teeth to avoid the draft. Others were turned away because they couldn't pass the bite test. The Army had no dentists. Dental problems were treated by surgeons with extraction forceps and nothing else. Read more

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ACT OF CONGRESS

The Army Dental Corps

March 3, 1911 — Finally Established

Contract Dentists First

Corps Established

Original Dental Officers

SAYRE · FIRST DC

For 136 years the Army had no dentists. Contract dental surgeons were first authorized in 1901, but they held no rank and no military status. On March 3, 1911, Congress finally established the Army Dental Corps as part of the Army Medical Department — thirty dental officers with military rank and authority. Dr. John Sayre is considered the father of the Army Dental Corps, having lobbied Congress for a decade to create it. The Army finally acknowledged that teeth were a military problem. Read more

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World War I — The Mobilization Problem 1917 – 1918

AEF · 1917–1918

Making an Army Dentally Fit

4.8 Million Men Needed Dental Exams

Troops Mobilized

Dental Officers Served

System Established

DENTAL CLINICS · AEF

When the United States mobilized for WWI, the Army discovered that the teeth of the American public were terrible. Hundreds of thousands of recruits needed dental work before they could deploy. The Dental Corps expanded from under 100 officers to 4,620 — establishing the dental classification system that the Army still uses today. Field dental clinics operated behind the lines in France, treating casualties with maxillofacial wounds and keeping the AEF dentally fit. The war proved the Corps was essential. Read more

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World War II — Global Dental Care 1941 – 1945

Dental Corps at War

15,000 Dental Officers — Every Theater

Dental Officers Peak

Dental Procedures

PTO · CBI · MTO

The Dental Corps scaled to meet the largest military in American history — over 15,000 dental officers serving across every theater. Mobile dental clinics and laboratories followed the fighting forces from North Africa to the Pacific. Over 65 million dental procedures were performed during the war. Maxillofacial surgeons reconstructed the shattered jaws and faces of combat casualties. The Dental Corps also developed the dental identification system that would become critical for casualty identification — a role that continues today. Read more

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COMBAT CASUALTY CARE

Maxillofacial Surgery

Rebuilding Faces

Facial Reconstruction

Injuries · Shrapnel

Techniques in War

The worst wounds in war are often to the face. Army oral and maxillofacial surgeons have been rebuilding shattered jaws, restoring facial structure, and giving wounded soldiers their faces back since WWI. Techniques pioneered in military operating rooms — wiring fractured mandibles, reconstructing blown-away cheekbones, dental implants for blast injuries — moved from the battlefield to civilian medicine. Walter Reed and Brooke Army Medical Center became world leaders in facial reconstruction because war kept providing the worst injuries imaginable. Read more

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Korea Through the GWOT 1950 – 2021

KOREA · VIETNAM

Forward Dental Care

Korea · Vietnam · Field Dentistry

DENTCAP Civic Action

Dental Operating Rooms

OF THE AID STATION

In Korea and Vietnam, Army dentists operated closer to the fighting than ever before. Dental officers provided emergency oral surgery at MASH units and field hospitals. In Vietnam, the DENTCAP (Dental Civic Action Program) sent military dentists into villages to provide dental care for Vietnamese civilians — hearts and minds through tooth extractions. Field dental operating rooms could be set up in hours, providing definitive care in austere environments that civilian dentists would never see. Read more

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COMBAT DENTAL SUPPORT

GWOT Dental Operations

Iraq · Afghanistan — Deployment Dentistry

Dental Support Teams

Blast Facial Injuries

In Iraq and Afghanistan, dental support teams operated on FOBs across both theaters — providing everything from routine cleanings to emergency oral surgery for IED blast injuries to the face. The wars reinforced dental readiness as a deployment requirement — soldiers who weren't dentally fit didn't deploy, period. Maxillofacial surgeons at combat support hospitals treated some of the most devastating facial injuries in military history, caused by IED blasts that body armor couldn't protect against. Read more

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Dental Forensics & Identification Identifying the Fallen

ACCOUNTING FOR THE MISSING

Dental Forensic Identification

DPAA · AFDIL · Identifying the Missing

Defense POW/MIA Agency

SURVIVE EVERYTHING

Teeth survive what nothing else can — fire, decomposition, explosion, decades in the ground. Dental records are the primary method of identifying remains for service members who cannot be identified any other way. Army forensic dentists work with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to identify the remains of service members from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and every conflict since. Over 81,500 Americans are still missing from past wars. When their remains are recovered, it is often a dental comparison that gives them back their name. Read more

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Active Commands & Training Today's Dental Corps

JBSA · FORT SAM HOUSTON

U.S. Army Dental Command

Fort Sam Houston, TX

Dental Activities

DENTAL OFFICERS

The U.S. Army Dental Command (DENCOM) oversees all Army dental care worldwide — 29 dental activities across installations in the continental United States, Europe, Korea, and the Pacific. Over 600 dental officers and thousands of enlisted dental specialists provide comprehensive dental care to soldiers, retirees, and family members. DENCOM ensures the Army meets its dental readiness mission — every soldier dentally deployable at all times. Read more

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MILITARY DENTISTRY

Army Dental Residencies

AEGD · Oral Surgery · Prosthodontics

Advanced Education

Oral & Maxillofacial

MILITARY MED SCHOOL

The Army trains military dentists through Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) residencies and specialty programs in oral and maxillofacial surgery, prosthodontics, periodontics, endodontics, orthodontics, and dental public health. The Uniformed Services University (USUHS) postgraduate dental programs train the specialists who handle combat facial trauma. Military dental residencies see cases civilian programs never encounter — blast injuries, ballistic wounds, and mass casualty dental identification. Read more

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Enlisted Dental Specialists

68E · 68K — The Backbone

Dental Specialist

Medical Laboratory

Side · Every Day

Every Army dental clinic runs on enlisted dental specialists — the 68E dental specialists who work chairside with dental officers, take X-rays, assist in surgery, and manage the patient flow that keeps an installation dentally ready. In the field, enlisted dental techs set up mobile clinics, sterilize instruments in austere conditions, and provide the hands that make forward dental care possible. The dental officers get the degrees. The 68Es do the work. Read more

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113

Years of Service

600+

Dental Officers

29

Dental Activities

Class 1

Dentally Ready