The ThunderBlogs

The smiles of the children who gathered in the playground in front of the non-profit Strathcona Community Dental Clinic reveal the state of the province’s deteriorating dental coverage for low-income families and families on welfare: there are often gaps where teeth should be or shaved-away pointed spikes where you would expect a rectangular toothy grin.

“20-30 years ago, provinces had dental coverage for people 18 years and under.  In the 70s there was a dental plan that covered students.  In Quebec, children under nine years old are covered. But in B.C. you need a university student plan, a government plan, a plan through work,” said Stephen Leary, the Executive Director of Strathcona Health Society who works at the dental clinic.  Now, the only thing enabling the children of low-income families (families that earn $29,000 dollars or less each year) and families on welfare is The healthy Kids Program, which also has been cut back with Gordon Campbell’s 2010 budget.

Among other various amendments, the 2010 budget cut back the program’s previously-covered, twice-a-year check-up to once-a-year, as well as put a limit on what services dentists can perform that are considered insured, such as the number of x-rays a dentist can take. This may not seem like much, but when you include cutbacks on school supplies, unpaid-for school trips and lunches, HST and the Air Care in BC which targets cars with poor emission-ratings, “low-income families are taking the hit on so many fronts, the burden builds up so high that dental is the last thing on the list to pay for,” said Leary.

A painted mural of cartoon characters with smiling teeth, colorful fruits and healthy vegetables greets you upon entrance to the clinic.  A series of plaques listing the donors who help keep the clinic in business hang on the wall of the waiting area.  Pictures of children with tooth decay and neatly lined up pamphlets with reminders of the benefits of proper dental care rest on the front desk.

“The concern is the long term effects of the changes,” said Peter Lam, one of the regular dentists at the clinic who tends to the over 1500 active patients from families with various income levels.  “A lot can happen in one year, between a checkup.  That is what we are worried about.  Preventative care is always better than treatment.”

A ten year-old boy, who preferred not to be named, was dropped off by his father for a cleaning.  When asked why he comes to the dentist, he said: “because it makes you look good.”

Do not underestimate the importance of this response, Leary would say.  “It’s a weird thing: you’re whole body is covered [by insurance] but not this mouth of yours and if you cannot prevent that root canal, what employer is going to hire someone with missing teeth in the front of their mouth?”