Public Health Ministry to give free false teeth and roots to over 40,000 people

BANGKOK, 3 Dec 2014 (NNT) – The Ministry of Public Health has planned to give out false teeth and roots to 40,000 people nationwide as a New Year gift.

The Ministry of Public Health will also take this opportunity to observe HM the King’s December 5th birthday. It will provide locally-made false teeth and roots to 35,000 people and 8,400 people respectively. Those eligible for the campaign are the elderly, the physically challenged and the poor.

The project is initiated by His Majesty the King who used to express his concern for the living quality of underprivileged people with dental problems. HM the King’s suggestion later led to the development of locally-made roots, which are as durable as imported ones but are far cheaper.

The free dentures are now available at more than 900 hospitals under the Ministry of Public Health, while the roots are available at more than 200 public hospitals nationwide. Interested persons can contact the Bureau of Dental Health, the Institute of Dentistry or provincial Public Health offices for more information.

The Ministry of Public Health is also planning to offer 35,000 false teeth and 5,000 roots to underprivileged people again next year.


-- NNT 2014-12-03

Good thing to do. Would not happen in a western country.

How can you not love this crazy country??

I would go for the false teeth, not sure about the roots.

Good thing to do. Would not happen in a western country.

in some western countries it is covered by insurance.

it really should be part of their healthcare.

Eric (above) mentioned that it doesn't happen in western countries, and while it does often get covered by insurance, teeth and dental care in general is almost never seen as basic healthcare - which never made sense to me.

Good thing to do. Would not happen in a western country.

in some western countries it is covered by insurance.

If you can afford the insurance.

Kudos to Thailand for taking care of the little folks- making their lives even a little better.

Edited December 3, 201411 yr by impulse

While I strongly support this, I thought that the junta was against populist policies to which this scheme certainly belongs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populism

Just hope its not a one size fits all deal,

Well this is a good thing, much better than wasting

money on buying rice.

regards worgeordie

What do the mean by roots?

Root canals? or implants?

Definitely Thailand needs a whole lot more than 40K of these.

Just the Chiang Mai area would use up that alotment.

One size set fits all ,never ever fails to Amaze

One in every 1,500 people will get a denture or a root.

Are farang eligible for the free root?

Edited December 3, 201411 yr by apetley

Are farang eligible to the free root?

You're not entitled to a free root beer.

I hope those free roots come with some free anesthetic.

Are farang eligible to the free root?

You're not entitled to a free root beer.

i hope so. haha!

You're not entitled to a free root beer.

What you wrote: You're not entitled to a free root beer.

What we see: .................free.......................beer

It is good news....now they'll have a 50" flat tv and teeth!!

Good for the recipients ...........but...........

Just how is this not populist policy and garnering favour by free handouts ?

Not that I care but I do wish they would shut the F up whining about it when its another but do exactly the same thing themselves....

Kind of sad really they have no plan or intention of making the most of the opportunity to take a leap forward for the country and are reduced to the same game of slotting their own into positions to control things and rewriting the rule book to suit in future elections,

Now they are giving away false teeth in a Thaksin style populist policy ? oh the irony

" The Ministry of Public Health has planned to give out false teeth and roots to 40,000 people nationwide as a New Year gift."

After an opening sentence like this, I expected to see that this was another brilliant program to take a bite out of crime and corruption.

Edited December 3, 201411 yr by jaltsc

Just hope its not a one size fits all deal,

Well this is a good thing, much better than wasting

money on buying rice.

regards worgeordie

True. But why not save the money by giving away some of the rice to the toothless? They don't need dentures to eat that.

This is great. Too bad there are millions of poor Thais with no teeth. False teeth need to be fitted with care, and root canals can be very risky, especially for older people. Not done properly and professionally, a root canal can lead to bacteria that causes a number of disease problems particularly the aged.

having new false teeth that fit properly will be a tremendous step for poor Thais. We hope the government plans to do this dental work properly and not just slap together some dentures that don't fit or bite properly. We hope the Thai government takes the 'success of this program seriously and that it is not just to garner popular attention. Hope the newspaper follows up on this and monitors the success and quality of treatment in these 900 Thai hospitals.

Good thing to do. Would not happen in a western country.

In places like Australia dental work is extremely expensive and totally out of the reach of the average person. It is a luxury that only a few can afford. Thailand's medical/dental services are far superior to Australia, decades ahead and affordable. An Aussie family can travel to Thailand for a few weeks pay for services, have a holiday and only pay a fraction of what they would back home. Houses are cheaper in Aust than a trip to the dentist and health insurance premiums are expensive to match the costs. Yep dental checkups are for the minority privileged in Aust.

Would be great as a follow-up to give out toothbrushes and toothpaste to the descendants of the folks receiving dentures to encourage them to look after their teeth and gums so they don't need false ones later in life!

Good thing to do. Would not happen in a western country.

In places like Australia dental work is extremely expensive and totally out of the reach of the average person. It is a luxury that only a few can afford. Thailand's medical/dental services are far superior to Australia, decades ahead and affordable. An Aussie family can travel to Thailand for a few weeks pay for services, have a holiday and only pay a fraction of what they would back home. Houses are cheaper in Aust than a trip to the dentist and health insurance premiums are expensive to match the costs. Yep dental checkups are for the minority privileged in Aust.

It is also cheaper in different areas of Thailand. I got work done in Chiang Rai in 2005; cost about $1400; cost in OZ about $5K-$8K. Got work done last year in Pattaya, but more expensive than Chiang Rai.

Chiang Mai also has some good dental hospitals. Many Thai dentists are trained overseas and preform some highly specialised work.

Very important to have good choopers, particulaly when you get older. 40000 is not a lot for this type of work?

I am pretty sure this project will have teething problems...

1 root per village

the tooth fairy on promotion in thailand

hope she is not a ladyboy

 

Would be great as a follow-up to give out toothbrushes and toothpaste to the descendants of the folks receiving dentures to encourage them to look after their teeth and gums so they don't need false ones later in life!

Better, floss.

Edited December 5, 201411 yr by Stuart21