Following specialized training in which naval dental assistants were taught to insert restorations in cavities prepared by dental officers, clinical tests were applied to determine how much more a dental officer can accomplish when he delegates certain procedures to specially trained assistants, to evaluate the quality of the restorations, and to determine the mental and physical effects on the personnel when operating under these conditions for prolonged periods. In the clinical tests the following systems were employed: (1) one officer and two assistants operating at one chair and utilizing conventional treatment procedures, (2) one dental officer and three assistants at two chairs, (3) one dental officer and four assistants at three chairs, (4) one dental officer and five assistants at four chairs. In the latter three systems, the assistants placed restorations in cavities. Two dental officers operating in the most satisfactory three-chair system increased their productivity by more than 100 percent; a third increased in productivity by 80 percent. Short term evaluations found restorations placed by the dental teams comparable to those placed by the conventional methods, and no adverse mental or physical effects when the three-chair system was utilized for 20 weeks. A related document is VT 005 732. (JK)