(3) Provide a duplication of the mouth, which is useful in consultations with
other dental officers.
(4)
Provide a permanent record of oral conditions as they existed prior to
treatment.
(5) Provide a media upon which proposed treatment procedures, such as
spot grinding for occlusal equilibration or the fabrication of prosthetic appliances may be
studied.
1-17. DENTAL SICK CALL
Dental sick call is a provision made to enable authorized personnel to request
needed dental service in the absence of a dental appointment. In many clinics, a definite
period during the day is set aside for dental sick call. Those who are suffering from pain,
injury, infection, or situations that may be called a dental emergency may be seen at any
time (a dental officer of the day and often a dental charge of quarters are available during
other than normal duty hours). All persons reporting to the dental clinic for routine or
emergency dental care are ordinarily given a dental examination before an appointment
or treatment is given. This means they are first seen by personnel of the oral medicine
and treatment planning service. Certain conditions will be treated in this section. Some
of these emergency situations may include gingival treatments, incision and drainage of
abscessed areas, and perhaps a tooth extraction, a denture repair, or the placement of
temporary restorations and sedative fillings. The dental specialist in the oral medicine
and treatment planning service should be familiar with the drugs, equipment, materials,
and the assisting procedures used to accomplish the treatments. Small clinics having no
specific oral medicine and treatment planning service will have some arrangement by
which dental officers will rotate on a schedule to manage sick call patients. In this
instance, the dental specialist assumes an even bigger task in coordinating this effort.
1-18. INDIVIDUAL SICK SLIP
DD Form 689 (Individual Sick Slip) is used by the commander as a control for
members of his unit. It is usually used to refer patients to a medical facility for medical
attention. It is also used with routine requests for dental attention. No entries are needed
in the LINE OF DUTY space and the signature of the dental officer is not required when
LINE OF DUTY is "yes" and DISPOSITION is "to duty." The dental specialist should
check DISPOSITION OF THE PATIENT and enter the time the patient was dismissed
from the dental clinic. When a patient is placed on quarters, or when instructions are
included in the REMARKS section, the dental officer's signature is needed.
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