The aim of this study was to determine the dental health status and treatment needs of personnel in the Infantry Regiment of the Malaysian Territorial Army (TA).This cross-sectional study involved stratified and systematic random sampling with a total sample size of 300. Dental health status and treatment needs were assessed using the standard WHO oral assessment criteria (1997). The prevalence of caries experience was 96% (mean ± SD DMFT [decayed, missing, filled teeth] = 8.0 ± 5.5). Active decay prevalence was high (85%; mean ± SD = 3.6 ± 3.1) indicating high unmet treatment need. Missing teeth prevalence was high (69%; mean ± SD = 2.8 ± 3.7). Filled teeth prevalence was low (56%, mean ± SD = 1.5 ± 2.0). In all, 90% of participants required some form of dental treatment, of whom 85% required restorative treatment, 5% advanced restorative treatment, 36.7% extractions, and 45.3% prosthetic treatment. These findings suggest that there was a high need for dental treatment in the Infantry Battalions of Malaysian TA Regiments and the service must be made available to cater to the needs.
This was a five-year retrospective study (1999-2004) on the prevalence of malaria at the Aborigine Hospital, Gombak, Malaysia. A total of 94 malaria cases was analysed. The highest case reports were for the year 2000, with 32 cases (34%), and the lowest was in 2004, with only 1 (1%). The majority of cases reported were among the Semai tribe (44%), followed by the Temiar tribe (34%) and the unspecified tribe (s) (20%). Females (53%) were more commonly affected than males (47%). The majority of cases were within the age group 1-5 years (51%). Plasmodium falciparum was the most common species reported in this study, at 57%, followed by Plasmodium vivax (38%) and 5% mixed infection of P. falciparum and P. vivax. Most patients (27%) stayed for more than one month in hospital. Most patients came from Kuala Lipis, Pahang, (78%). The most common complication was anemia (38%) followed by splenomegaly (18%); only 2% had cerebral malaria. All patients were treated with the standard anti-malarial drugs. No deaths were reported in this study.