New Canadian Dental Care Plan ensures most low and moderate-income people have access to affordable dental services

It was this past March 12, 2024, that I attended the N.L. NDP CDCP (Canadian Dental Care Plan) Seniors Info Session at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch on the Boulevard, St. John’s.

The CDCP is starting with seniors, children under 18 and people with disabilities. By 2025, all eligible Canadians whose individual or family income is less than $90,000 and without employer group insurance will be covered under CDCP!

For those of you adults who receive the federal Disability Tax Credit, you can start to apply in June of this year. I asked federal NDP health critic, Don Davies, MP Vancouver Kingsway, why CDCP focused on those adults with the DTC (Disability Tax Credit) and not those Canadians who are currently receiving Canada Pension Plan Disability and those on Provincial/territorial Disability Support programs. He responded that the Federal Liberals wanted to just to focus on DTC recipients only and those Canadians with disabilities not on DTC will have to wait until 2025. However, DTC recipients will have to make less than $90,000 to receive CDSP. Those making $89,000 to $80,000 will receive 40 per cent coverage, those making $79,000 to $70,000 receive 60 per cent coverage and those Canadians making $70,000 or less receive full 100 per cent coverage.

It has been estimated that nine million Canadians will be on CDCP. And, as the federal NDP states: “The new Canadian Dental Care Plan is the largest expansion of public healthcare in half a century!”

This much-needed dental plan will ensure most low and moderate-income Canadians have access to affordable dental services. We all know that Oral Health Diseases, like Gum disease, gingivitis, tooth decay, abscesses, and so on can affect one’s overall health.

According to the Canadian Dental Association: “Oral diseases ranging from cavities to cancer are all serious threats to your oral health. Your oral health is an important part of your overall health. Research shows there may be a link between oral disease and other health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke as well as pre-term and low-birth-weight babies.”

The Coalition for Dentalcare says “Healthy teeth and gums benefit our physical health, comfort with socialising and general well-being. Yet oral health care is often expensive, putting a large financial strain on families. That’s why it’s important to make it a key part of primary health care.”

Dr. Brandon Doucet states; “Lacking access to dental care is problematic. It forces poor oral health care onto people. Poor oral health leads to many consequences like diabetes complications, worsening heart disease and increased rates of aspiration pneumonia.” Doucet said the Liberalndp agreement aims to give more people access to dental care but that it needs to be a stepping stone to truly universal dental care that ensures everyone has access to timely and comprehensive care.

Mary Otto, an American medical journalist and author of “Teeth: Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America,” shares a fascinating history of dental care in the U.S. Otto started covering oral health when a young boy died of dental sepsis, a complication of an abscessed tooth, in Washington, D.C. His family spent a quarter of a million dollars to try and save him.

Dr. Hasan Sheikh, an emergency physician with Canadian Doctors for Medicare, said he sees patients in the emergency department who really need to see a dentist but have nowhere else to go. “It’s a very strange system where one part of your body is treated as not part of your overall health,” said Sheikh. “Your smile is such an important part of your mental health. It’s very strongly related to self-esteem and to social interactions and … employability.”

What will CDCP cover?

1. Preventive services, including scaling (cleaning), polishing, sealants, and fluoride;

2. Diagnostic services, including examinations and x-rays;

3. Restorative services, including fillings;

4. Endodontic services, including root canal treatments;

5. prosthodontic services, including complete and partial removable dentures; Periodontal services, including deep scaling;

6. Oral surgery, including extractions.

I have to thank the federal

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, Don Davies, Jack Harris, Mary Shortall, and other New Democrats and Progressive Canadians for making this possible in a Liberal minority government situation.

I know the CDCP, like other health and social programs has its critics from both the political Left and the political Right. Some people insist that we have a singlepayer Universal Public Dental Health Program, like public Medicare, while others say no and support the status quo with a patchwork of private and public dental coverage with many uninsured Canadians denied access to dental care.

Unfortunately, Canada has one Canadian political leader, Pierre Poilievre, and his Conservative Party who are against CDCP! On April 17, 2024, Poilievre told Radio Canada: “Under a Conservative government a Dental Care Plan Doesn’t exist.”

Pierre Poilievre has enjoyed taxpayer funded dental coverage for over 20 years, but he doesn’t think nine million Canadians, and many of you, deserve the same right!

Edward Sawdon St. John’s