Low-income dental clinics in London, Ont., see more patient visits amid cost of living challenges | CBC News

Some dentists in London, Ont., say that while they’re not surprised, they are concerned about a recent Statistics Canada survey in which 35 per cent of Canadians reported skipping visits to the dentist due to high costs and a lack of insurance coverage. 

Financial barriers are a key reason that Western University’s various dental clinics at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry are seeing a rise in patients opting for their subsidized services instead.

“There’s a COVID effect where so many people have lost their dental benefits due to changing jobs, and the cost of dental care. We’re also seeing dental professional shortage, with hygienists so this is all just couples up,” said Noha Gomaa, a dentist who teaches at the school.

“We’ve known previously that one in five Canadians did not have dental insurance and now this number is up to one in three, so we’re definitely seeing a rise there.”

The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) released last week found that 40 per cent of people without dental insurance avoided going to the dentist in 2022 because of the cost. It’s almost three times higher than the 14 per cent who avoided dental checkups even with private dental insurance.

Gomaa has seen an increase in wait-lists of patients at low-income or urgent care clinics because they can’t afford private clinics, she said, adding that seniors are most affected by the lack of affordability since many lose benefits during retirement. 

Financial challenges are also evident in the treatment choices patients make, Gomaa said. 

“For those who come to see us at the school, we may find they opt for the less costly option, for example, a tooth extraction compared to root canal which tends to be more expensive.”

The federal government is expected to launch a $13-billion dental plan by the end of the year to help around nine million uninsured families earning less than $90,000. It will be administered by Health Canada with support from a third-party benefits administrator.

Anxiety also a factor, say dentists

The plan could be helpful in getting more people to go to dental professionals, according to Nosheen Ahmad, a dentist at the private UCC clinic at Western University, who said costs of running a practice and dental services have also soared.

“I go over any concerns of the patient and things I have noticed and together, we come up with a treatment plan and give estimates of costs,” she said. “This way the patient has a clear understanding of what needs to be done and what can wait if finances are tight.”

Ahmad also believes that lack of general oral health awareness is a factor that can deter patients because many people don’t consider its impact on overall physical health, she said. 

“The mouth is kind of the window to what’s happening to the body because everything we eat is coming through our mouths, so lots of things in our bodies get affected by that,” she said.

“One of the biggest problems is that we really separate ourselves from medicine so people don’t realize there’s a connection there.”

Both Gomaa and Ahmad have noticed that many people are anxious about seeing dentists, but not getting regular cleanings and checkups can cause problems to fester, they said.

“Unfortunately when they do come [to the dentist] the issues they’re having are often more costly to treat,” said Ahmad. Sometimes people find their teeth don’t really hurt until it’s really bad and even for us, we often don’t see that there are cavities until we take x-rays.”

The dentists believe improving education around dental health can allow more people to understand its importance, they said.