Evaluation of the Prevalence of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases in Submarine Navy Personnel of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Background: Oral and dental care is very important for submarine crews, as they live in confined spaces while they are on their missions. If emergency dental conditions occur during submarine operations, dentistry services are not available. Objectives: The objective of the current study was to evaluate the prevalence of oral and maxillofacial diseases among submarine personnel. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 74 submarine crew and 28 marine personnel participated after signing a written informed consent statement. The data was collected using a questionnaire that included items on the demographic data, medical and dental history, behaviors related to oral and dental health, and the probability of emergency dental conditions on the mission. The questionnaire was filled out for each participant by a dentist after performing clinical and paraclinical assessments. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: The DMFT index (decayed, missing, and filled teeth) for the submarine and marine groups were 5.24 ± 4.16 and 8 ± 5.94, respectively. The number of missing teeth and the MDFT index were significantly higher in the marine group (P 0.05). Prevalence of the aphthous stomatitis was significantly higher in the submarine group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: In general, the oral and dental health status of the submarine crew was better than that of the marine group. The prevalence of aphthous stomatitis, however, was significantly higher in the submarine group. One of the etiologies considered for that condition is stress.