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The Role of Dental Care in Canada's Health System

  • Julie Collette, BSc, RDH
  • May 23, 2022
  • 2 min read

Updated: May 29, 2022

Julie Collette, DipDH, BSc, RDH

 

The role of dental care in Canada’s health system is primarily a private system. The majority of Canadians access dental care through independent, fee-for-services dental practices and pay through out of pocket or by third party, dental insurance means.

Dental care is not part of Medicare, Canada's national system of health insurance.

The only universal coverage for dental care, under the Canada Health Act, is only limited to medically necessary, surgical dental services performed by a dentist in a hospital. Dental health was seen as a personal responsibility, therefore it was excluded from the Medical Act of 1966. Under the Alberta Health Act and the Public Health Act, provincial standards of dental care coverage and programs can be customized and regulated.


The Canadian federal and provincial governments help finance dental care for specific groups. Federally recognized groups include state-recognized Indigenous persons (Non-Insured Health Benefits Program), the country’s armed forces, and persons of refugee status (Interim Federal Health Program). Provincially financed groups in Alberta include low-income children, low-income seniors, social assistance receivers, persons with disabilities (Alberta Dental Service Corporation), and those with oral maxillofacial disorders requiring devices and services (OMDS). Provincial governments can also finance oral health promotion programs to at risk populations.


My current role as a registered dental hygienist (RDH) who works in private practice in Alberta is to provide dental cleanings and associated preventive services to the public. Dental hygienists are mandated through legislation (the Health Professions Act) and governed by the College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta (CRDHA) concerning their regulation, standards of practice, ethics, and continuing competencies. Associations that represent the interests of Alberta RDHs are the Dental Hygienists Association of Alberta (DHAA) and Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA). The CDHA advocates the role of a RDH to provide a high standard of preventative and therapeutic oral health care, as well as the promotion of oral health to all Canadians.


 

Resources


Continuing Competence Program and Rules. (2020). https://www.crdha.ca/public/download/files/177947

Health Canada. (2021) Non-Insured Health Benefits Program. First Nations and Inuit Health Branch: Annual Report 2017-2018. Retrieved from Government of Canada website: https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1581294869253/1581294905909

Health Canada. (2019). Canada’s health care system. Retrieved from Government of Canada website: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-care-system/reports-publications/health-care-system/canada.html

Health Professions Act: Dental Hygienists Profession Regulation. (2006). https://www.qp.alberta.ca/1266.cfm?page=2006_255.cfm&leg_type=Regs&isbncln=0779751108

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (2001). https://laws.justice.gc.ca/PDF/I-2.5.pdf

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