As many as 3,000 low and middle-income senior citizens have benefited this year from a government program that subsidizes the fitting of dentures, Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) said yesterday.
Another 4,777 elderly people are expected to receive the subsidy before the end of the year, Liao said.
At a promotion event for the program yesterday, the ministry invited five senior citizens who have been fitted with dentures under the program to share the results of their dental treatment.
PERFORMANCE
Pu Yue-chiao (蒲月嬌), one of the five, gave a performance that featured music produced by blowing through banyan tree leaves.
Pu said that with the dentures, she can now eat solid food and has more choices.
Liu Ching-chun (劉景春), who is more than 100 years old, said that since he’d had his dentures fitted, he no longer had to worry about eating problems.
During the promotional event, the ministry also provided the participants with information on oral health and the proper care of dentures.
NUMBERS
Liao said each senior applicant can receive a subsidy of between NT$15,000 and NT$140,000 to help pay for dentures.
A sum of up to NT$40,000 is available for the fitting of a complete set of standard dentures and NT$35,000 for a single jaw denture and a partial denture in the other jaw.
For partial dentures in both upper and lower jaws, the subsidy is NT$30,000.
For the fitting of a full single jaw denture the subsidy is up to NT$20,000 and for a partial single jaw denture NT$15,000, Liao said.
Low and mid-income senior citizens, as well as those on pensions or full governmental housing allowances, can apply their local governments for the dental subsidies, the minister said.
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