Toronto Expands Emergency Dental Services for Low Income Residents
Low income residents in Toronto now have access to an expansive range of emergency dental care services thanks to changes introduced by the council. As part of a scheme aimed to reduce poverty in the region, the city council has funded a number of new emergency dental clinics for holders of the Ontario Works card.
As a result of new measures, low income patients now have access to 23 clinics across the city, rather than five provincial centres. The clinics are managed by Toronto Public Health and Mayor John Tory said there has been no significant impact on budgeting strategies.
Last year, more than 300 additional patients received emergency dental treatment as a direct result of increasing access to state-funded urgent care. Mr Tory, who was speaking at Scarborough Civic Centre, said the changes had been made possible by “collaborative, creative thinking”, which is an approach the council will use again in the future.
The council has provided a year by year overview of what is expected to happen over the course of the coming years in Toronto to reduce poverty and prevent those in need from slipping through the net. Improved access to dental care was introduced in May and councillors are now looking into ways to reach other target groups, including pregnant women, children and the elderly. The council has promised to look into ways of improving services to make them more universally accessible and raise standards of oral health in deprived areas.
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