Information about the Canadian Dental Care Plan

 The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) is a federal program designed to help make dental care more affordable for Canadians who lack dental insurance and have lower household incomes. It provides partial coverage for a range of dental services through a benefit administered by Sun Life on behalf of the Government of Canada.

To be eligible, you must be a Canadian resident for tax purposes, have no access to private dental insurance (including employer-sponsored plans), have filed your most recent tax return, and have an adjusted family net income under $90,000. 

Even if the CDCP says you’re covered at 100%, it does not mean they will pay the full cost of the services at our dental office. The CDCP pays dentists using lower set prices from their own fee guide, which is lower than the current provincial dental fee guide. Therefore, you have to pay the difference out of pocket. This is called balance billing. 

 The CDCP uses the same dental procedure codes as other plans, but it limits how often certain services can be covered. This means some treatments are only paid for once within a set time period. For example, the CDCP usually covers one checkup (recall exam) every 12 months and up to 4 units of scaling (about 1 hour of cleaning) in a rolling 12-month period. If more care is needed outside those limits, there will be an out-of-pocket cost. Feel free to call or email us to inquire more about frequency limits for different procedures.

 For certain treatments—such as crowns, dentures, or additional hygiene (cleaning) units—the CDCP requires extra documentation before coverage can be considered. This may include X-rays and gum measurements (periodontal charting). Our dental office sends this information to Sun Life, which administers the plan, and they review it to decide whether any coverage will be approved. While approvals are not common, we will always submit the required information and advocate on your behalf.