Current information about the dental care needs of Regular Army recruits is not routinely available to the Department of the Army Assistant Surgeon General for Dental Services for use in determining the allocation of limited dental resources. Similar information about the Reserve and National Guard components is also sorely lacking to mobilization planners. The purpose of this study was to determine the dental treatment needs of Army recruits by component, sex, ethnic background, and level of education. A random selection of incoming recruits was examined by experienced dental officers, and treatment plans were developed. The resulting data was analyzed to determine the needs per thousand recruits for 15 care variables. Treatment times were also established to provide the required care. In general the dental care needs of current all-volunteer forces are approximately the same as when the draft was in effect although shifts have occurred in the relative magnitude among the care variables. Restorations account for 41% of total care needs of recruits. Significant differences were shown among the needs for Army components. Level of education and ethnic background are important variables in determining recruit population dental needs. It is recommended that the report be made available to dental resource utilization and mobilization planners and that a dental classification system that identifies severity of care needed be developed and implemented.