A painful toothache or an oral infection might not sound like an injury that could sideline a soldier in combat, but US Army dental leaders warn that in a future conflict, such easily overlooked conditions could take troops out of the fight, consume scarce evacuation capacity, and further stress a strained medical system.
Most of the Army’s major exercises don’t include dental emergencies in their casualty scenarios, dentists said in a recent professional article, leaving commanders with an incomplete picture of the medical and triage or evacuation demands they could face in large-scale combat.
Dental emergencies can quickly render troops…
