Yujawon Nursing Home Dental Clinic Opens in Seoul
South Korea faces a deep structural challenge in senior healthcare, marked by the highest elderly poverty rate among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. According to the OECD’s 2023 Pensions at a Glance report, roughly 40 percent of South Korean seniors live in relative poverty. Against this backdrop of financial strain, access to clinical oral healthcare remains severely restricted for older adults. Data from the 2023 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was evaluated in a nationwide study released in the August 2026 issue of the journal Gerodontology, which revealed that 23.2 percent of adults aged 65 and older experienced unmet dental care needs over the prior year. Researchers identified that older adults with Medical Aid coverage, individuals living in rural regions with limited transit and clinical availability, and seniors living alone faced significantly higher odds of going without necessary dental care.
Volunteer Dentists Deliver Bi-Monthly Care to Vulnerable Seniors
For residents at the Yujawon Nursing Home in Seoul, these systemic barriers shape daily life. Because many of the 160 individuals residing at the facility deal with dementia or the lasting consequences of a stroke, traveling off-site for routine dental visits is challenging without dedicated on-site assistance. To address this shortfall, Section XI teamed up with the government-backed nonprofit Smile Foundation—which works to broaden healthcare access for seniors—establishing a complimentary dental clinic within the facility on April 2, 2025. Leadership and Fellows from Section XI actively manage ongoing operations. Volunteer dentists visit Yujawon on the second and fourth Thursday mornings of every month to provide direct treatment to the residents. The clinic initially provided basic preventive services, such as scaling and oral hygiene instruction, before expanding to manage oral inflammatory conditions, maintain denture hygiene, repair prosthetics, and provide basic restorative treatment.
Gwangju Veterans Nursing Home Receives Visiting Dental Care Campaign
A parallel outreach effort took place when United Dental Group conducted the “Visiting Sharing Dental Care—Hopeful Dental Health” campaign for approximately 200 elderly residents at the Korea Veterans Health Service’s Gwangju Veterans Nursing Home. Im Yoon-tae, director of UD Sangmu Dental Clinic, joined medical staff and volunteers for the event. Held as part of the UD Care Campaign operating since 2012, the initiative utilizes the UD Dental Bus, equipped for professional dental treatment, to provide medical services directly to medically underserved and low-income populations. Medical teams provided oral examinations, preventive care, basic treatment, and denture repairs and cleaning. In addition to clinical procedures, UD Dental donated oral-care products and denture-care kits to participating seniors, while the UD Nursing Academy and UD Lifecare donated collagen supplements and omega-3 health supplements.
