As of July 8, 2024, oral health care providers can now see patients registered for the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), even if not officially registered themselves. After months of feedback from disgruntled dental professionals, the federal government has implemented this change in the hope that more dental providers will take part in the plan … Read more
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith recently announced that the province plans to opt out of the federal dental care plan by 2026. The reason behind this decision is that the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) is essentially a duplicate of the coverage already available in Alberta. She still wants to negotiate for the province’s share of … Read more
The U.K. government is planning to offer cash incentives to dentists for taking on additional NHS patients. Up to 240 dentists will receive £20,000 for three years of work in areas of England that have poor access to dental care. These dentists will also be sent to schools to improve oral health in children. The … Read more
The Government of Canada has announced the official roll-out plan for the Canadian Dental Care Plan. Beginning this month, seniors aged 87 and older can start applying to the program, expanding to other age groups in the following months. Once eligible, individuals will receive an invitation letter with instructions on next steps for applying. An … Read more
The budget and maximum payable amount has increased for Newfoundland and Labrador’s adult denture program, reported CBC News. The change includes a 20 percent increase from $700,000 to $840,000 and the maximum payable amount increasing from $750 per denture to $900. The denture program was introduced in January 2012, but the last fee changes happened … Read more
NYU College of Dentistry’s World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Quality-improvement, Evidence-based Dentistry hosted an event on oral health and universal health coverage on Sept. 20, leading up to the 2nd United Nations High-level Meeting on universal health coverage that was held on Sept. 21 in New York. The event, a collaboration with The Lancet, focused on … Read more
With growing concern over poor dental health, six states in the U.S. expanded their Medicaid programs to provide coverage for adults this year. Medicaid is a federal and state health insurance program that has previously only been providing dental coverage only for children. Even with the expansions, access still remains difficult as some dentists are … Read more
Recent data reveals that provinces with their own dental care coverage for children have received a smaller share of federal money from the Canada Dental Benefit, reports the Canadian Press. The benefit was designed to “complement provincial coverage” and fill the gaps, which does not mean the benefit will be applied equally across all provinces. … Read more
A recent study published in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health reveals that 28% of Indigenous Peoples in Ontario only go to the dentist when it is an emergency. Vrati Mehra, a York University graduate student, conducted the study in collaboration with Faculty of Health Professor Hala Tamim. Data was examined from the Canadian Community Health … Read more
A new agreement is allowing more services to be included in Nova Scotia oral health programs for children and people with intellectual disabilities. The province is now funding services such as scaling, sedation and silver diamine fluoride application. However, this will increase fees paid by the province and is estimated to be about $4.7 million … Read more
The Western Standard has reported that the department of health has concerns that as the Canadian Dental Benefit program expands, employers currently offering private dental coverage may stop and transfer the expense to taxpayers in order to save money. The government is not able to force companies to continue to provide employer-sponsored dental care. Lindy … Read more
The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board has found that the Treasury Board violated a section of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act by not agreeing to start negotiations for the renewal of a dental care plan with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). The federal government is appealing this ruling. PSAC filed a … Read more
A new legal settlement has been reached that makes it easier for millions of low-income New Yorkers to access routine dental care. The New York Department of Health must life some of it’s restrictions for Medicaid recipients, which is expected to expand dental coverage for 5 million people. In the past, “A mouth with just … Read more
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party was willing to be flexible on the first phase of the Liberal government’s dental-care plan, but in future the New Democrats will bend no further. The government agreed to bring in a federal dental plan for uninsured low- and middle-income families as part of a supply and confidence agreement with the … Read more
Ontario is committing to offering “portable benefits” for workers, the returning labour minister says, and is mulling next steps for a soon-to-expire sick leave program. In an interview with The Canadian Press on Thursday, Monte McNaughton discussed labour plans for the recently re-elected Progressive Conservative government, including next steps for the proposed benefits package for … Read more
All three of Ontario’s main parties are promising to provide dental care to more people should they form government after the election, but the president of the Ontario Dental Association (ODA) said the province should fix its existing dental programs before launching any new dental care initiatives. PC Leader Doug Ford said his party will pump … Read more
Dentists who work with low-income communities say they are hopeful a federal dental plan announced this week will help their clients, but still have questions about how it will work. A new Liberal-NDP “supply-and-confidence” agreement will see the New Democrats support the minority Liberal government on confidence votes until 2025 in exchange for action on several NDP … Read more
The federal government recently announced the launch of a new dental care program for low-income Canadians. The Faculty’s dental public health experts agree it is good news for Canadians and for our oral health care system. “It’s a long time coming,” says professor Carlos Quiñonez, who is also the director of the graduate specialty program in Dental Public … Read more
A battle is brewing between the federal government and the provinces over control of health care. A deal reached Tuesday between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh infringes on provincial jurisdiction and doesn’t have a future, Quebec Premier François Legault said Wednesday. If the federal government persists in pushing its agenda, … Read more
The Liberals have agreed to launch a new dental care program for middle- and low-income Canadians and advance a number of other NDP priorities in exchange for New Democrats propping up the federal government until 2025. “We’ve agreed to work together,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a news conference Tuesday morning. “It’s about focusing … Read more