Oral Health Month

SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2024 • SUPPLEMENT TO THE FREE PRESS Oral Health Month 2 CANADIAN DENTAL CARE PLAN'S FRAMEWORK NEEDS MORE POLISHING BY JIM BENDER T he federal government recently introduced the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). Designed to ease financial barriers to accessing oral health for eligible Canadian residents, it's for those who don't have dental insurance or have a family income of $90,000 or less. The plan's coverage will include everything f rom teeth cleaning to X-rays to dentures. Initial reviews of the plan indicate its f ramework needs more polishing. "The Canadian Dental Care Plan is a great concept, and it can be an important opportunity to provide better access to care for Canadians and Manitobans," says Dr. Daron Baxter, the Manitoba Dental Association president. That said, the Plan still needs to be tweaked to make it more user-f riendly. "The provincial and territorial associations, along with the Manitoba Dental Association (MDA), believe that there's certain elements of the plan that need to be considered to make sure that it does create that access to care that we're looking for. We're working hard to see how we can how we can work together with the government to create a successful one." Seniors aged 87 and over started to register for the Plan in December 2023. "The communication with government was a little late in the game – a little later than we would have liked," says Baxter. "At this stage, we've had some opportunities to present our experience and expertise on what we see working daily with public and private insurance plans." " We want to see a plan that enhances healthcare coverage for all Canadians." — Dr. Daron Baxter, president of the MDA. >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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