Biomedical subjects

Jeffrey Chaffin

Publications and source records attributed to Jeffrey Chaffin.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Staffing model for dental wellness and readiness.

Oral health is an integral part of general health. Previous research has shown that untreated oral conditions can result in increased rates of disease and nonbattle injury for deployed soldiers. The purpose of this study was to develop models for U.S. Army dental wellness and readiness using a multivariate regression analysis approach. Staffing levels and dental wellness and readiness rates were examined for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2002 at 40 Army installations. Full regression model equations were developed for percent dental wellness and readiness using location, time, dental provider types, and basic training installation as predictor variables. Both models were shown to be statistically significant, with wellness R2 = 0.37, F12,107 = 5.18, p < 0.001 and readiness R2 = 0.23, F12,107 = 2.65, p < 0.01. Further tests of specific predictor effects revealed that wellness was significantly associated with the specialties of general dentistry, hygienists, and oral surgery, and that readiness was significantly associated with region and the oral surgery specialty. Results may be useful for the U.S. Army to identify the best practices in an effort to optimize dental wellness and readiness.

Dental Clinics↗

PubMed2003

Dental population health measures: supporting Army transformation.

General Eric K. Shinseki, Chief of Staff of the Army, has initiated the transformation of the Army with the goals of making the force more lethal, agile, and versatile. A key component to the transformation is deploying healthier soldiers that will result in the ability to decrease the amount of deployed medical support. This article describes two new population health measures the U.S. Army Dental Command is implementing to support the transformation. The new program will make it mandatory for dental providers to assess caries and tobacco risk at all active duty soldiers' annual dental examinations. These measures will allow the dental personnel to identify who is at risk for future disease and then to plan appropriate prevention strategies for those individual soldiers. These aggregate corporate data will allow dental leaders to target prevention services to the units with a high percentage of tobacco users. These new measures and the resultant prevention strategies can increase the readiness of our forces and can result in a healthier and mission-ready force.

Dental Caries↗

PubMed2003

Public health model for Dental Specialty MEDRETE.

OBJECTIVE: Dental readiness training exercises constitute one form of a specialty medical readiness and training exercise (MEDRETE). Traditional dental missions have been a part of general MEDRETEs and have focused care on extractions and the provision of oral hygiene instructions. This article describes the tenets of a prevention-based dental humanitarian mission to Honduras in 2002. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The U.S. Army Southern Command requested a Dental Specialty MEDRETE for fiscal year 2002. A site visit revealed the absence of water fluoridation, high levels of dental disease, and a desire to have an American dental team perform the dental readiness training exercises at the Escuala Lempira, a low-income elementary school in the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa. RESULTS: The U.S. Army Dental Command in conjunction with the 257th Medical Company (Dental Services) performed a pediatric dental readiness training exercises in Tegucigalpa March 4-15, 2002. In over 9 treatment days, there were 369 patient encounters totaling 1,593 treatment procedures. In keeping with the preventive focus of the mission, 514 dental occlusal sealants were provided compared with only 90 extractions. Over dollar 76,000 in dental services was provided. CONCLUSIONS: The 2002 Honduran Dental Specialty MEDRETE represented a changing paradigm from extraction-based dental missions toward prevention-based missions. With this philosophical shift in focused care, Dental Specialty MEDRETEs have the ability to enhance the oral health of children, including those not fortunate enough to have received direct interventional dentistry.

Child↗

PubMed2002

Dental cost of deploying a National Guard unit to Bosnia.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the dental readiness of a National Guard (NG) unit mobilizing to Bosnia, to estimate the civilian comparable cost for the necessary treatment to make the unit deployable, and to examine the effect on the active component (AC) dental readiness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a retrospective cohort analysis of dental fitness classifications (DFCs) and treatment provided for the 48th IN BDE (Mech) upon mobilization for a 6-month deployment to Bosnia. The NG unit mobilized through Fort Stewart, Georgia, from December 2000 through February 2001 en route to a 6-month deployment starting in February 2001. All soldiers received dental examinations and were classified in one of four DFCs. DFC 1 implies that the soldier has no dental treatment needs; DFC 2 indicates that the soldier needs dental treatment, but the condition is not expected to cause an emergency in the next 12 months; DFC 3 indicates that significant oral conditions present are expected to cause an emergency in the next 12 months; DFC 4 indicates that the soldier is in need of a dental examination. Dental treatment was provided for all DFC 3 soldiers. A database was created of DFCs of deploying soldiers upon arrival at the mobilization site and dental procedures performed. RESULTS: This retrospective review identified 1,378 soldiers who processed through the dental station at the mobilization site. Soldiers DFCs were as follows: DFC 1, 7.8%; DFC 2, 50.1%; DFC 3, 35.8%; DFC 4, 6.2%. Direct costs to the Fort Stewart Dental Activity were $95,602. The services provided to treat the DFC 3 patients are valued at $441,471. CONCLUSIONS: The dental readiness of this NG unit was greatly inferior to that of the AC, and there is a significant cost in personnel, dollars, and AC readiness to provide the needed dental treatment before mobilization.

Bosnia and Herzegovina↗

PubMed2002

Making prevention of abuse and neglect through dental awareness green.

Family violence encompasses child, spouse, and elder abuse and neglect and is viewed as a serious public health threat in our society. Unfortunately, abuse and neglect are commonplace in our society and are not limited to the civilian sector. The military community mirrors the civilian sector in the prevalence of abuse and neglect. Traditionally, identification and intervention of suspected cases of abuse and neglect was thought to be the role of the medical provider. Reports that up to 94% of family violence injuries have head and neck components, which is the very site that dental providers focus their attention, justifies the need for dental involvement. The U.S. Army Dental Command's Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program's newest initiative is a family violence awareness program called Prevention of Abuse and Neglect through Dental Awareness (PA.N.D.A.). The program augments the Army Family Advocacy Program and gives dental-specific knowledge to our providers. The goals of this article are to describe the new program of the U.S. Army Dental Command that focuses on providing education and awareness to the dental community regarding family violence and to report the results of a survey that has been administered during the family violence training. More than 71% of individuals attending the P.A.N.D.A. training claimed to have previous training in family violence, whereas only 44% were knowledgeable about military regulations governing abuse and neglect.

Domestic Violence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The army goes rolling along.... Maximizing care through dental assistant expanded functions in a humanitarian mission.

OBJECTIVE: Dental Readiness Training Exercises (DENRETEs) are the military form of dental humanitarian missions. Most dental humanitarian missions focus on extractions and the provision of oral hygiene instructions. This paper describes a dental humanitarian mission, sponsored by the US Army Dental Command (DENCOM), to Honduras in 2003 and how expanded function dental assistants can increase the provision of dental care. MATERIALS & METHODS: The US Army Southern Command requested a DENRETE for fiscal year 2003. A site visit revealed the absence of water fluoridation, high levels of dental disease, and a desire to have an American dental team perform the mission at the Escuela Lempira, a low-income elementary school in the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa. RESULTS: DENCOM in conjunction with dental personnel performing a 6-month rotation with Joint Task Force Bravo performed a Pediatric Humanitarian mission in Tegucigalpa from 1 to 9 April 2003. During 6.5 treatment days, there were 416 patient encounters totaling 1490 treatment procedures. Over $90,000 in dental services were provided. CONCLUSIONS: The 2003 Honduran DENRETE represented a changing paradigm from extraction-based dental missions toward providing comprehensive care aided by maximizing the use of dental assistants trained in expanded functions. With this philosophical shift in focused care, dental humanitarian missions have the ability to enhance the oral health of more children.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Army's "look for xylitol first" program.

Xylitol is a sugar substitute not well known in the United States. This sugar substitute is not only low in calories but can also help prevent dental caries. The U.S. Army Dental Command's Health Promotion Program is constantly seeking additional prevention measures to enhance the oral health of America's Army. The Dental Command has created the "Look for Xylitol First" initiative aimed at training all members of the dental care team on the positive benefits of xylitol and to teach patients how to be smart consumers and evaluate products for their xylitol content.

Dental Caries↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Digital dental radiography needs assessment utilizing the Delphi process.

This article reports the results of a needs assessment using the Delphi process. The purpose of this study was to determine the architecture and equipment (radiographic and computer network) for establishing and supporting an enterprise's vast digital dental radiographic program. Two panels of subject matter experts identified the needs for a digital dental radiography system; one expert panel consisted of dentists while the other panel's members were information management/information technology (IM/IT) experts. Panelists rated digital dental radiography needs using descriptive statistics and a 7-point bipolar scale. Among dentists, the four most important needs were the capability to store images, image appearance, centralized image storage, and a dedicated back-up server; among IM/IT panelists, they were ensuring HIPAA compliance, use of a standard formatting procedure, excellent print quality, and use of encryption for data transmission. This study's findings are useful for any organization seeking to initiate or improve its own digital radiography program.

Computer Communication Networks↗