Free Dental Care for Low-Income Seniors
More than 60,000 emergency room visits each rear in Ontario are as a result of preventable oral health issues gum disease, infections and chronic pain. Most of these ER visits are made by seniors. To act on this, the PC Government is making sure low-income seniors have access to free routine dental care.
The new Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program will commit approximately $90 million to provide free routine dental care for eligible low-income seniors across Ontario. This investment will help keep low-income seniors healthy and will go a long way to reduce Emergency Room traffic for preventable conditions.
Minister of Health, Christine Elliot stated that “by providing seniors with access to quality dental care and keeping them out of hospitals, this new program is a key part of our plan to end hallway health care.”
Seniors aged 65 and over with an income of $19,300 or less, or couples with a combined annual income of $32,300 or less, who do not have dental benefits, will qualify for the new program. 100,000 low-income seniors will have the opportunity to benefit from this new program.