Trump Gets New Military Warning

The U.S. Army is warning about an easily overlooked problem that could sideline American troops and strain critical medical resources during a future large-scale war: dental emergencies.

A severe toothache or other dental problem may seem insignificant compared with a battlefield injury. But military planners say these conditions can prevent service members from eating, sleeping, operating weapons, and carrying out essential duties.

The problem could become especially serious in a major conflict where medical evacuation routes are contested and transportation resources are already stretched thin.

An article published in the September-October edition of the Army professional journal Military Review argues that the military needs to take dental casualties more seriously when preparing for large-scale combat operations.

According to the authors, major Army Warfighter exercises currently do not include dental casualties in their planning scenarios.

That omission, they warn, could leave commanders underestimating the number of troops requiring medical attention and evacuation during an extended conflict.

Dental Emergencies Can Take Troops Out of Action

Military readiness depends on having enough healthy personnel available to perform their assigned missions.

Dental problems can interfere with that readiness surprisingly quickly.

Severe pain or infection can make it difficult for a service member to concentrate, eat properly, sleep, wear equipment, or perform physically demanding tasks.

However, dental casualties have one major advantage compared with many other medical problems: troops can frequently return to duty quickly when proper treatment is available nearby.

According to the Army article, approximately 96% of dental casualties receiving appropriate treatment return to duty within one or two visits.

That means forward dental care could potentially prevent thousands of unnecessary evacuations while allowing military transportation and medical resources to remain focused on more serious battlefield injuries.

Past Wars Show How Serious the Problem Can Become

Historical military data suggests dental emergencies are far from rare during deployments.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, dental emergencies reportedly represented 19% of treatment provided at one U.S. Role 2 medical treatment facility.

The Army has also reported that dental disease and nonbattle injuries accounted for as much as 16% of medical evacuations during Operation Inherent Resolve.

Those figures demonstrate how ordinary health problems can become operational concerns when thousands of American troops are deployed for extended periods.

Every service member removed from duty creates another position that commanders may have to cover. Every evacuation also requires transportation, medical personnel, equipment, and security that could potentially be needed elsewhere.

More Than 34,000 Dental Evacuations Reported

The long-term numbers provide an even clearer picture of the potential burden.

According to Military Review, 34,318 service members, civilians, and contractors required evacuation to dental treatment facilities in the U.S. Central Command region between 2009 and 2023.

About 58% of those evacuations were conducted by ground transportation.

That statistic could have major implications for how the U.S. military prepares for a future conflict.

American forces operating against a sophisticated adversary may not always have unrestricted access to air evacuation. Aircraft could face enemy air defenses, drones, missiles, electronic warfare, or other threats.

Ground transportation could therefore become even more important.

Under those circumstances, sending vehicles and personnel to transport someone with a treatable dental condition could consume resources needed for wounded troops, ammunition, supplies, or other essential battlefield requirements.

Army Dentist Calls for Smaller Mobile Teams

One proposed solution is straightforward: bring dental treatment closer to the troops.

Army Lt. Col. Jesse Thietten, a U.S. Special Forces dentist, has advocated for smaller and more mobile dental teams capable of operating closer to deployed units.

During an August military briefing, Thietten described dental treatment as a “low-hanging-fruit solution for medical as a whole.”

Instead of evacuating a service member over a significant distance for a problem that might be resolved relatively quickly, a mobile dental team could potentially provide treatment closer to the battlefield.

The goal would be to return troops to duty faster while reducing unnecessary pressure on the military’s broader medical evacuation system.

Army Exercises May Need to Prepare for Dental Casualties

The Army’s current dental planning recommendations call for military exercises to begin incorporating dental casualties at rates based on historical experience.

The recommendations also emphasize preserving forward dental capabilities.

The Military Review authors estimate that dental cases could represent approximately 15% to 20% of disease and nonbattle injury casualties during large-scale combat operations.

If those projections prove accurate, failing to account for dental emergencies could leave commanders facing unexpected demands on medical personnel and evacuation networks.

But the concern extends beyond military planning exercises.

The article also points to a decline in operational dental billets. Military dentists have additionally reported equipment problems and inadequate supplies that can interfere with realistic field training.

Those shortcomings could become increasingly important if the United States enters a prolonged conflict where medical personnel must operate under difficult conditions far from established bases.

Future Wars Could Make Medical Evacuation More Difficult

For decades, American troops have often benefited from highly capable medical evacuation systems.

A future war against a major military power could present a very different environment.

Aircraft and ground vehicles transporting casualties could face drones, missiles, artillery, electronic warfare, and other threats. Long distances could further complicate the movement of wounded or sick personnel.

That makes treating as many medical problems as possible close to deployed units increasingly valuable.

Dental care is one example of a medical capability that could help accomplish that objective.

If a dentist can treat a service member in the field and return that person to duty after one or two appointments, the military potentially avoids an evacuation while preserving another trained soldier for the mission.

Military Readiness Goes Beyond Weapons and Technology

The Army’s warning illustrates an important reality about preparing America’s armed forces for future conflicts.

Military strength is not determined solely by fighter jets, tanks, missiles, drones, ships, and advanced weapons.

Those systems still depend on trained men and women being healthy enough to operate them.

A toothache may sound like a minor inconvenience compared with the dangers of combat. But when dental problems occur across a force numbering thousands of troops, their combined effect can become a significant readiness and logistical issue.

The Army’s own historical data suggests these cases can consume substantial medical and transportation resources.

Preparing dental teams to operate closer to troops could therefore provide a relatively simple way to keep more service members on duty, reduce unnecessary evacuations, and preserve critical medical capacity for the men and women who suffer serious battlefield injuries.

In a future war where every vehicle, medical team, and trained service member could matter, even something as ordinary as a toothache could have consequences far beyond the dentist’s chair.