| Sumario: | Objectives: To estimate direct and indirect costs per visit for elderly patients and their caretakers receiving complete dentures in Health Region 9, Thailand. Method: This cross-sectional household cost analysis collected data through a structured questionnaire with 346 elderly patient–caretaker pairs at three tertiary hospitals in Health Region 9 between September 2024 and February 2025. Costs were reported as means with 95% confidence intervals estimated using the bootstrap method. Results: The mean realized cash loss per visit was 148.23 PPP-USD (95% CI: 117.11 to 179.34). Costs explicitly attributed to patients accounted for 46.9% of the total cash losses (69.57 PPP-USD, 95% CI: 37.29 to 101.84), comprising out-of-pocket medical expenses (42.71 PPP-USD) and actual income loss (26.86 PPP-USD). Caretakers incurred 37.6% of total costs (55.76 PPP-USD, 95% CI: 53.08 to 58.44), strictly from foregone earnings driven by significant time spent at the hospital (averaging 6.3 hours per visit). Shared out-of-pocket non-medical costs, such as transportation and meals, accounted for the remaining 15.5% (22.90 PPP-USD, 95% CI: 20.33 to 25.47). Sensitivity analyses valuing unpaid time demonstrated a substantially broader economic burden. Conclusion: Although patients bear the majority of out-of-pocket expenses for treatment, caretakers face substantial actual income loss and prolonged visit durations. Health policies supporting household expenses and the adoption of service delivery innovations to improve clinic efficiency are needed to minimize these time requirements and realized cash losses.
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