Montréal, Quebec
Today, at Clinique dentaire Ville-Marie, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, accompanied by Rachel Bendayan, Member of Parliament for Outremont, announced that more than one million Canadians have received care under the Canadian Dental Care Plan and more than 2.7 million Canadians have been approved to be part of the plan.
The Canadian Dental Care Plan is saving Canadians on average more than $730 through a wide range of oral health care services, from cleanings to life-saving screenings for diseases like oral cancer.
Starting November 1, the Canadian Dental Care Plan will expand to include more services, so that even more Canadians across the country are able to receive the care that they need. The Canadian Dental Care Plan will begin accepting requests for services that require preauthorization. This will mean that it will be possible for patients to receive services, such as the initial placement of partial dentures or crowns, as well as requests for services when a Canadian Dental Care Plan patient has a particularly high need or complex condition. Each request will be assessed thoroughly on a case-by-case basis to see if the course of treatment recommended by the oral health practitioner meets the clinical criteria for coverage under the Canadian Dental Care Plan.
The Canadian Dental Care Plan will also begin accepting paper claim submissions for services covered under the Canadian Dental Care Plan. While most providers have been able to submit claims electronically since May 2024, providers who only work with paper claims will now also submit claims for their services. This is an important step to provide greater access to care for more Canadians.
More than 22,340 oral health providers nationwide, or 89 percent of active oral health providers are providing care to Canadians covered under the plan and have been crucial to the success of the Canadian Dental Care Plan in improving access to oral health care in Canada.
Thanks to consultations and established working groups, Health Canada has worked continuously with oral health providers to make the preauthorization process as seamless as possible for providers and their staff. Health Canada remains committed to working with providers across the country, so these processes are implemented smoothly.
