Atlas Dental's Insurance Policy For The Canada Dental Care Plan
Updated March 2, 2024
Dear Valued Patients at Atlas Dental,
The Government of Canada has announced their highly anticipated Canada Dental Care Plan to help ease financial barriers to accessing oral health care for eligible Canadian residents. Eligible seniors were invited to apply for enrollment starting December 2023 and dental care could begin for some people as early as May 2024.
At Atlas Dental, we are excited about this opportunity and remain dedicated to providing the best care to our patients. Therefore, we are committing ourselves to helping our existing patients who are eligible for the CDCP access this benefit. Before you schedule your next dental cleaning and recall exam, there are a few things you need to know:
The CDCP is not free dental care
There is a common misconception in the public domain saying that the CDCP is free dentistry; it is not. Patients will have to pay a co-payment for which the amount will depend on:
- The difference in coverage between the CDCP benefit grid and our customary Ontario Dental Association Fee Guide, and;
- Their adjusted family net income.
To better illustrate this concept, try out the following CDCP calculator to see how much CDCP benefit you can get and how much co-payment you must pay for a typical dental cleaning with recall exam (codes 01202,02142,11114,11107) at Atlas Dental:
Atlas Dental’s participation with CDCP will be limited to existing patients of our practice for the time being
Dentists can only start signing up for the CDCP program starting March 11, 2024. We dentists do not yet know all the details about this program because it was rushed in a short period of time with minimum input from us dentists, the very people that the government depends on to make this program a success. Due to unknown administrative obstacles of the CDCP, we at Atlas Dental have decided to limit our participation to existing patients of our practice for the time being as we work out the nuances of this government plan. We will periodically reassess the viability of this program before inviting new patients to participate.
Frequency limits on treatment under CDCP
The CDCP stipulates frequency limits for certain procedures.
For example, for any given 12 month period, only 1 recall exam (01202) and maximum of 4 units of scaling (11114; 1 hour of cleaning) will be covered by the CDCP. This means that if you are a patient who requires more frequent dental cleanings, such as scalings every 9 months, 6 months, 4 months, or 3 months; you may have to pay for those additional appointments out of pocket if you do not have additional private dental insurance.
Limitations for other dental procedures may apply. Certain common dental treatments are not covered at all. Insurance pre-determinations may have to be submitted beforehand to determine your amount of coverage.
Please verify your eligibility with Atlas Dental before booking your next dental cleaning
If you intend on taking advantage of the CDCP program for your next dental visit, please fill out the following form to confirm your participation. We will verify your eligibility, and notify you when we are ready to receive CDCP patients.
Additional Resources About CDCP
For more information about about the Canada Dental Care Plan, feel free to contact us at Atlas Dental or visit these online resources:
- Ontario Dental Association CDCP Frequently Asked Questions
- 2023 CDCP Dental Benefit Grid from Sunlife
- Government of Canada information page about CDCP
Sincerely,
Dr David Nguy and your team at Atlas Dental
