Oral health of airmen: analysis of panoramic radiographic and Polaroid photographic survey.

An oral health survey of 5,783 basic airmen was conducted. In this study, emphasis was placed on detection of periodontal disease. Numerous pathologic conditions were found and recorded. In addition, the presence or absence of evidence of previous dental care and its nature were reported. We believe that panoramic radiographs and Polaroid intraoral photographs have merit in mass screening of large numbers of persons for the detection of periodontal disease. Through the use of these diagnostic aids, various degrees of periodontal disease could be diagnosed. Other pathologic entities that might have been missed with routine dental radiographs were observed. However, although the diagnostic aids used in this report are a helpful adjunct, in their present state of development they should not be used to replace standard dental radiographs and clinical examination.