No money for dental care for Ontario’s poor
Health ministers in Ontario have revealed that there is money available to help poorer people pay for dental treatment.
Deb Matthews, Ontario’s health minister, says there are no resources available to help people struggling to afford dental treatment, despite making a promise three years ago to increase funding and introduce a plan to help those with low incomes. When the promise was made, around 135 million dollars was pledged to assist around 500,000 people to access affordable care; now, this money is not available to help those adults and will instead be used to provide dental care for children.
Ms Matthews said that she would have loved to deliver the promise to help poorer people afford dental care; however, there is simply not enough money and resources are already stretched, so helping everyone is just not possible. The health minister said that focusing on children will help to raise standards of dental health across the country and reduce the need for costly, complex treatment in the future.
Canada’s poor are facing severe difficulties; many of them do not have insurance plans and the cost of dental care is rising year on year. For those who have low incomes and those without employment, paying for dental treatment just isn’t possible. A recent survey conducted by Health Canada revealed that 17 percent of Canadians avoid visiting the dentist on the grounds that they cannot afford the cost of treatment.
Many people who struggle to pay dentist’s fees are resorting to visiting underground, unlicensed dentists; these dentists often target immigrants and those with low incomes because they know that they struggle to afford private care and most don’t have dental insurance. Recently, the Toronto Star revealed that there are a large number of illegal practices in the area and visiting an unlicensed dentist for cut price care is becoming increasingly popular; for many, this is the only opportunity to get dental care but it can be very dangerous and the risks of infection and complications are high.
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