Hawai‘i Army National Guard

What is DRC, and why being DRC3 is significant and why it affects the fighting force?

A Dental Readiness Classification (DRC) is given to all service members (SM) based on what their current dental status is and their readiness to deploy. There are four categories of DRC. These categories are as follows:

DRC 1: SM has a current dental exam and doesn’t require any additional treatment or re-evaluation.

DRC 1 is ready to deploy.

DRC 2: SM has a current dental exam and requires non-urgent dental treatment or re-evaluation for oral conditions which are unlikely to result in a dental emergency within one year.

DRC 2 treatment includes: Dental cleanings, periodontal maintenance, treatment for minor cavities or minor fractured teeth, active orthodontic treatment, temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) in remission.

DRC 2 is ready to deploy.

DRC 3: SM requires urgent or emergency dental treatment. The SM is more likely to experience a dental emergency within one year.

DRC 3 treatment includes: Moderate to large cavities or tooth fractures, fractured fillings that cannot be maintained by patient, uncontrolled gum disease, abscessed teeth, teeth that require root canals, lesions requiring biopsy.

DRC 3 is NOT ready to deploy.

DRC 4: SM is delinquent and requires dental exam or the dental classification status is unknown.

DRC 4 is NOT ready to deploy.

How is DRC resolved?

Here are some examples of tooth conditions that categorize you as DRC3:

A large cavity that requires a filling.

A medium to large size broken filling or tooth.

A tooth with pain or an abscess that requires a root canal procedure. A tooth needing a root canal will also be DRC3 for a filling as well.

A tooth that cannot be saved because it is too far broken down and requires to be extracted.

Moderate to severe gum disease causing loose teeth that require extraction or a deep cleaning.

DRC3 is resolved once all treatment is completed. This includes having the cavities filled, fractured fillings replaced, moderate to severe gum disease treated with scaling, root canals completed, bad teeth extracted, and lesions biopsied and proven to be harmless.

How do you clear yourself from being DRC3?

Make an appointment with your civilian dentist to get the specific work that you need done. Upon completion, have your dentist sign a DD2813 form to indicate that the critical DRC3 work had been completed. Please note that all work does not need to be completed, just the DRC3 work.

How are DRC3 teeth identified?

During the annual Periodic Health Assessments (PHA) HIARNG dentists will identify any issues they see, and a dental tech will input the status into the MEDCHART system that reports to MEDPROS.

I’ve been identified as DRC3 at PHA, now what?

During the PHA, you will see a HIARNG Care Coordinator (a civilian contractor) to take care of the dental issue and become deployable! They will 1) guide you through the insurance and financial aspect of care and 2) provide you with the paperwork needed to clear. They also have the HIARNG State Dental Officer to help navigate you through care.

It is the job of the SM to schedule an appointment with their dental provider, to get dental issue taken care of to remain in a deployable DRC.