Navy Dental Corps: ninety years ... and forward.

The Navy Dental Corps is responsible for ensuring the readiness of America's sailors and marines and optimizing their oral health. This article traces the history from the 1912 Act of Congress authorizing thirty "assistant dental surgeons" as the first Navy Dental Corps through service around the world. Navy dentists have seen service in every war and action in the past ninety years, reaching a peak of seven thousand officers and eleven thousand technicians in World War II. The Navy Dental Corps has served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Beirut, Somalia, Haiti, 9/11, Desert Storm, Desert Shield, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.