Free dentures provided to elderly people
 
Hospitals in Thailand’s northeastern Bueng Kan province provide free dentures to the elderly, hoping to improve their diets and quality of life.
 
One of those hospitals includes Bung Khla Hospital which provides free dental services to the elderly, with support from the National Health Security Office (NHSO).
 
Under the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS), the NHSO covers the cost of dentures for the scheme’s beneficiaries, allowing many hospitals nationwide to offer devices to the patients without charges.
 



Thongdee Srichan, 92, a patient registered at Bung Khla Hospital, is one of many elderly people who received free dentures after many years of teeth loss.
 
“Since I started wearing dentures, I can eat most types of food and find little difficulties in chewing food. Providing free dentures to elderly people, especially those in rural areas, is very beneficial,” he said.
 
“It’s not easy to find dental clinics in the rural areas. If there are clinics, many local people can’t afford dental services because they are considered expensive.”
 



Dr Physicpong Buengmum, head of Bueng Kan Hospital’s dental department, said that denture wearing helped restore teeth function, resulting in an increased selection of chewable foods and nutrition improvement.
 
“The NHSO’s inclusion of dentures in UCS benefits create opportunity for elderly to improve their health,” he said.
 
However, challenges remain. The shortage of dentists in public hospitals has forced many elderly people to wait longer for dental services. Only a few dentists are stationed at each hospital.
 
Despite the availability of free dentures, Dr Physicpong said that elderly people may need to wait for more than a month to get the dentures ready for them.
 



The NHSO deputy secretary-general Dr Athaporn Limpanyalers said that the NHSO had introduced several dental benefits to the UCS members. These include tooth filling, scaling, and extraction.
 
The benefits also cover implant support dentures, which dentures are embedded in the bone and fixed on the gums. This benefit targets elderly people who have lost their whole teeth for a long period of time, resulting in flatted-shaped gums.
 
Though implant support dentures are high cost, Dr Athaporn said the NHSO moved forward with including it in the UCS’ benefits package because of the difficulties the elderly people may endure.
 
It is estimated that around 58% of elderly people aged between 60 and 74 have functional teeth that help them consume food properly. The share reduces to 22% for elderly people aged over 80.
 
To prevent serious dental problems in old age, the NHSO has collaborated with other health organizations, including the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, to raise concerns for dental health in children and adults.
 
The organizations also partner to campaign for dental health, including educating the public to have regular tooth brushing and dental checkups once a year.    
 
Dr Athaporn said that proper dental care at early ages would reduce the health burden in senior years.