Only 65% of Canadians consulted a dental care professional in the 12 months preceding 2022, as revealed by Statistics Canada in its Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) conducted from February to December 2022. The results exclude Canadian territories.
Statistics Canada data also reveals that many Canadians have refrained from seeking dental healthcare due to financial reasons.
The most committed
The group of respondents aged 12 to 17 is the most committed to visiting the dentist: 79.3% of these young Canadians consulted a dental professional in the 12 months preceding the CCHS. The group of Canadians with private dental insurance comes second (76.1%), and households with a net family income of $90,000 or more rank third (75.1%).
In two groups, fewer than 50% of people consulted a dental care professional in the 12 months preceding the CCHS. The proportion drops to 48.9% in the lower quintile of net family income. This is the lowest proportion in the entire sample. Canadians who are unsure if they have dental care insurance have a consultation rate of 49.4%. People without any insurance have a rate of 50.6% during the observed period.
Regional and gender disparities
At 68.5%, residents of British Columbia fare well, while those in Newfoundland have the lowest proportion of Canadians who consulted a healthcare professional during the period observed by Statistics Canada, at 54.9%. Quebec falls in the middle, with 61.8% of its population having visited the dentist at least once during this period.
During the observed period, women consulted in greater proportion than men, with 68.2% compared to 62.4%.
Too costly
The cost was a significant barrier for the 35% who avoided consultation during the 12-month period observed by Statistics Canada. Its survey reveals that 23.5% of Canadians avoided consulting a dental professional due to cost.
Family net income was a determining factor in avoidance for those who cited this reason. In the lower quintile of family net income, 35.5% avoided consulting a dental professional due to cost. Among those with a family net income of less than $70,000, 32.6% avoided consultation for the same reason. Those aged 18 to 34 avoided consultation due to cost at a rate of 30.5%.
Women are slightly more likely to have avoided consultation for this reason (24.8%) than men (22.3%).
Equity undermined
Statistics Canada specifies that a higher proportion of Western Asian (38%), Arab (34%), Latin American (34%), South Asian (29%), Black (28%), Chinese (27%), and Filipino (27%) people stated that cost was a barrier, compared to non-racialized and non-Indigenous individuals (22%).
In its table specifically concerning different cultural origin groups, Statistics Canada has annotated several data points either because they should be used with caution or because they are too unreliable to be published. Among the unannotated data, it is noted that Canadians of Indigenous heritage were 25.5% more likely to avoid consulting a dental healthcare professional due to cost, compared to 23.5% among non-Indigenous individuals.
More than a third lack insurance
Avoidance of consultation due to cost is highest among Canadians who claim to have no insurance. At 39.6%, they represent the highest proportion in the sample. Statistics Canada also reveals that 35% of respondents in its survey reported not having dental insurance.
Among the 65% of Canadians who have dental coverage, private insurance predominates. " At the time of the survey, 55% of people reported having had dental expenses covered by private dental insurance, which includes a plan through an employer, a private plan or a plan through a college or university," explains Statistics Canada in the November 6, 2023 edition of its daily bulletin, The Daily.
Moreover, 4% of Canadians indicated having only a public insurance plan (i.e., a plan paid for by the government, without private insurance). A little over a third (35%) of Canadians stated that none of their dental care costs were covered by private or public dental care insurance, and 6% did not know if they had dental care insurance or had one without knowing what type it was.
Other barriers
A report by the C.D. Howe Institute recently revealed that Canada ranks among the lowest in seniors’ care, in terms of equity, affordability, and speed, on the international stage. Reducing barriers to dental care was among the means cited by the report to help Canada climb the international rankings.
At the same time, the deployment of the Canada Dental Benefit concerns the private dental insurance sector. One industry group believes that caution is needed in offering public dental insurance. Among its four recommendations to the federal government, the Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting (CALU) wishes for the federal government to encourage companies to continue offering dental care plans to their employees, even after the full implementation of the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP).
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), on the other hand, recommends that the government introduce a tax credit for employers to prevent them from eliminating or reducing dental care coverage once the public dental care plan is deployed under the Dental Benefit Act.
Currently, the interim Canada Dental Benefit provided by the Government of Canada offers protection to eligible families earning less than $90,000 per year. Parents and guardians may be eligible if they pay for the dental care of a child under 12 who does not have access to a private dental insurance plan, explains the federal government.