Canadian Dental Care Plan: What Is Covered

What the Canadian Dental Care Plan pays for

The Canadian Dental Care Plan, or CDCP, helps residents of Canada who have no access to dental insurance and who meet its income rule. This article looks closely at what the plan actually pays for. It is based on Canada.ca's coverage page and the CDCP Dental Benefits Guide, which took effect on April 1, 2026, checked in October 2026.

If you're still working out whether you qualify or how to apply, start with our CDCP guide, then come back here for the details of coverage.

CDCP coverage by category

Canada.ca groups CDCP coverage into these categories:

• Diagnostic and preventive: complete, routine, specific and emergency exams; X-rays; cleaning (scaling and polishing); fluoride; sealants.
• Restorative: fillings, temporary fillings and treatment to control pain in diseased teeth.
• Endodontic: root canal treatment, pulpectomies, treatment to reduce infection and relieve pain, and re-treatment.
• Periodontal: cleaning below the gumline, abscess treatment and non-surgical gum disease care.
• Major restorative: crowns, posts and cores, and crown repairs.
• Removable prosthodontics: complete and partial dentures, immediate dentures, overdentures, repairs, relines and rebases.
• Oral surgery: removal of teeth and roots, removal of cysts and tumours, drainage, and treatment of broken jaw bones.
• Anaesthesia and sedation: nitrous oxide, oral sedation, conscious sedation, deep sedation and general anaesthesia.

How often services are covered

Coverage comes with frequency limits. Going beyond a limit is possible only with preauthorization. A few examples from the guide:

• Exams: up to three in any 12 months, including one recall exam every 12 months and one complete exam every 60 months.
• Polishing: half a unit in any 12 months, at any age.
• Scaling: half a unit a year up to age 11, one unit a year from 12 to 16, and up to four units, including root planing, from age 17.
• X-rays: up to eight single images in any 12 months, and a full series once every 60 months.
• Panoramic X-ray: once in 60 months, up to three in a lifetime.
• Fluoride: once every 6 months up to age 16, then once every 12 months.

Services that need approval first

Preauthorization means your dentist asks the plan before treatment and waits for a yes. Canada.ca says not every request is approved, and the Ontario Dental Association notes that replies can take several weeks or longer. Services that need it include:

• Crowns, and posts and cores
• Root canal re-treatment
• Partial dentures, immediate dentures and overdentures
• Extra scaling and root planing beyond the yearly limit
• Conscious sedation by inhalation or combined technique, deep sedation and general anaesthesia
• Any service beyond its frequency limit

What the CDCP does not cover

Orthodontic services are not currently available. The Dental Benefits Guide also lists these as outside the plan's scope:

• Implants and all implant-related procedures
• Bridges and other fixed prosthodontics
• Veneers, and inlays or onlays in composite, metal or ceramic
• Cosmetic treatment, including teeth whitening
• Night guards, sports mouthguards and jaw joint appliances
• Bone grafts and crown lengthening

Why you might still pay something

You can still choose a service the plan doesn't cover, but you pay for it yourself. For covered services, two things can leave you with a bill. The first is your co-payment, which depends on your adjusted family net income. The second is any difference between the CDCP fee and the office's own fee. Canada.ca's worked examples show that even a patient with no co-payment can owe that difference on a cleaning.

Canada.ca advises asking your provider, before you receive care, about any costs the plan won't cover. A written estimate answers that question clearly.

How government dental insurance plans work together

Some people have more than one public program. Government dental insurance plans can overlap, and the ODA says people covered by Healthy Smiles Ontario or the Ontario Disability Support Program can still apply for the CDCP. Benefits are coordinated so coverage isn't duplicated. Ontario.ca also says low-income seniors may qualify for the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program alongside the CDCP.

Using your CDCP coverage in Aurora

If you're in Aurora or nearby, we accept the CDCP for adults and children and send claims to Sun Life on your behalf. After your exam, we check what the plan will pay, send a preauthorization request when one is needed, and show your share in writing before any treatment.

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