In 2022, the federal government announced a commitment of $5.3B to provide dental care for the uninsured, beginning with children under 12 years of age. Now referred to as the Interim Canada Dental Benefit (CDB), the program targets those under 12 years of age from families with annual incomes less than $90,000 and without private dental insurance.

A new study led by CHRIM scientist Dr. Bob Schroth and the Healthy Smile, Happy Child team reviewed federal data from the Government of Canada on public uptake and applications made to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) during the first year of the Interim CDB.

Data for the first year of the Interim CDB was accessed from the Government of Canada Open Data Portal through Open Government Licence—Canada and showed that federal funding is improving access to care for children under 12 years by addressing the affordability of dental care.

Recently, the Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, visited CHRIM to meet with Dr. Robert Schroth and the Healthy Smile Happy Child (HSHC) Research team to discuss the research conducted on the CDB thus far.

This was an exciting visit to showcase the work being done by HSHC, and discuss the important work needed by Governments and oral health professions to address other dimensions of access to care including accessibility, availability, accommodation, awareness, and acceptability of oral health care.

Dr. Bob Schroth and his team are currently working on studies that evaluate the interim Canada Dental Benefit, recruiting over 142 parents and 401 dental health professionals. His team is also working on evaluating the upcoming Canadian Dental Care Plan on children’s oral health in Canada.

Here are a few photos from the visit!