Like pulling teeth

The announcement of the closure of the Centre Dentaire Shawville at the end of the month is troubling news for many residents of the area and is a symptom of the systemic problems in the way Canada handles dental care.
With the closure of one of the few dental offices in the Pontiac, many people are now expected to travel a lot further afield to receive dental care than they do now.
This represents more than just the loss of a service. It means less access to necessary healthcare which was already in very short supply.
To make the trek to Aylmer, children will have to take extra time away from school and parents will have to take additional time off work, as well as incur increased travel expenses. Seniors with limited mobility who currently have some way of getting to dental appointments may soon have to travel upwards of an hour each way. Undoubtedly, there will be people from all walks of life who will put off dental care due to the extra burden of traveling.
It’s bad news for everyone.
It is important to point out that this decision was made by a private company without consultation or input from the community. Even the employees of the office had no say. It was simply a business decision about where to allocate resources where they will generate the greatest profits, which is, of course, the perogative of private enterprise.
But it shows the fundamental problem with delegating to the private sector something as important to human well-being as essential health services. When decisions are being made about who can and who cannot have access to dental care, there needs to be other considerations beyond the bottom line of a company, not to mention one that is based outside the community
The deficiencies in our system are further exemplified by the many Pontiacers who are not affected by this decision because they do not seek out dental care in the first place, as they don’t have dental insurance and so can’t afford it.
A 2014 study by Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Improving access to oral health care for vulnerable people living in Canada, found that oral health and overall health were directly linked and that the poorest Canadians tended to not have access to it.
Statistics Canada found that in 2018, 22 per cent of Canadians avoided dental care due to the costs.
The Pontiac is full of people who fall into this category.
This is why the development of nationwide dental coverage for families with incomes below $90,000 a year – announced by the federal Liberal government, under pressure from the NDP – is welcome news.
But even that program, if it is ever fully deployed, wouldn’t change what has just happened in Shawville. It will still be a private system, and dentistry companies will still be able to relocate to more profitable areas on a whim.
The proposed system would also create a two-tier model where those with money would inevitably get better care. It would create an additional bureaucracy with the job of processing all the paperwork required to determine who is and who isn’t eligible for the public option. And it would come with a built-in base of political opposition to the program comprised of people who make over $90,000 and don’t perceive a benefit, despite supporting it with their tax dollars.
All these reasons point to why a publicly-owned, universal system would be a better choice.
While Canada’s publicly-funded healthcare system leaves a lot to be desired these days, its problems need to be understood in the context that it has been underfunded since 1996 and is still struggling under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A serious move towards a universal system for dental care, as part of a broader commitment to overhauling our publicly-funded healthcare system, would ensure that everyone has access to effective dental care. Or at least that we are doing a far better job than we are now.
In the coming weeks, with the closure of the dental office in Shawville, those who have been able to benefit from its service – whether because they can afford to pay for it out of pocket or are fortunate enough to have dental insurance –will be out of luck every bit as much as those who simply can’t afford it.
Nobody likes going to the dentist. But the alternative of not being able to go is a lot worse.
There are definitely challenges along the road of improving dental care in Canada. But getting the government to face them head-on should not be so difficult.

Brett Thoms