Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) Coverage, Co-Payments and the Fee Guide

The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) helps pay part of the cost of a wide range of dental services, when an oral health provider recommends them. Many services are covered without approval in advance, and others need preauthorization. Orthodontic services, such as braces, are currently not available, and implants and bridges are excluded. What you pay depends on your adjusted family net income: a co-payment of 0%, 40% or 60% of the CDCP fee, plus extra charges when your provider’s price is higher than that fee.

Who can join: The federal Canadian Dental Care Plan covers Canadian residents for tax purposes who have no access to private dental insurance, have filed their tax return (as has any spouse or partner) and have adjusted family net income under $90,000. The eligibility page explains each requirement, and the application page covers applying.

On this page: What’s covered · By treatment · Not covered · Preauthorization · What you pay · Extra charges · Fee guide · Finding a dentist

What does the CDCP cover?

The coverage page gives these services as examples of what the plan could cover when an oral health provider recommends them. Whether a service is covered is decided case by case, taking into account your oral health and medical conditions.

Services also have frequency limits, such as 1 in any 12 months for a recall exam, and care beyond a limit needs preauthorization.

Does the CDCP cover crowns, dentures, root canals and other common treatments?

A quick answer by treatment, from the plan’s coverage page and its Dental Benefits Guide:

What doesn’t the CDCP cover?

Orthodontic services, such as braces, are currently not available. The Dental Benefits Guide also lists exclusions: procedures that are always outside the plan and can’t be covered at any time. The guide’s list includes, but isn’t limited to:

• veneers in composite or ceramic
• all ¾ crowns
• restorations for incisal wear involving enamel and dentin
• cosmetic treatment, including teeth whitening
• inlays/onlays in composite, precious metal or ceramic
• temporomandibular joint therapy and appliances
• fixed prosthodontics (bridges and all bridge related procedures)
• periodontal appliances, including bruxism appliances (night guards)
• mouth guards
• crown lengthening
• implants and all implant-related procedures
• bone grafts
• extensive rehabilitation
• precision attachment partial dentures
• fluorescent diagnostic light

A refused request for an exclusion can’t be reconsidered. For a service that falls outside the plan but isn’t an exclusion, a provider can ask for an exception through preauthorization; Health Canada decides, and the guide expects exceptions to be extremely rare. You can still have a service the plan doesn’t cover if you agree to it and pay your provider directly.

Which treatments need preauthorization?

Preauthorization means your provider recommends a service and the plan confirms whether it will cover it, before you receive it. The plan looks at your oral health history and medical conditions, and not every request is approved. It is also how a provider asks for care beyond the plan’s frequency limits. The coverage page marks these services as needing it:

• re-treatments of previously completed root canal treatments (endodontic services)
• bonding for mobile teeth (periodontal services)
• post-surgical evaluations (periodontal services)
• crowns (restorative services)
• cores (to support crowns) (restorative services)
• posts for crown (restorative services)
• complete immediate and overdentures (removable prosthodontic services)
• partial dentures (removable prosthodontic services)
• conscious sedation (anesthesia or sedation services)
• deep sedation or general anesthesia (anesthesia or sedation services)

For dentures, the guide is more precise: complete overdentures and complete dentures with a long-term soft liner need preauthorization, but other complete dentures, including immediate dentures, don’t.

The guide adds a standard root canal on a third molar, and says the benefit grids show which procedure codes need preauthorization.

If a request is refused, you can still go ahead and pay your provider directly. You can also ask for a reconsideration: your provider sends it for you with new or added clinical information, within 60 days of the refusal. There is one level of reconsideration, and its decision is final.

Before an appointment, your provider can send the plan an estimate to confirm your coverage is active, which services are covered and how much the plan will pay. The plan pays by its rules and fees on the day you get the service, so the amount can differ from the estimate or preauthorization.

How much do you pay?

Your co-payment is the share of the CDCP fee that the plan doesn’t cover, which you pay to the provider. It depends on your adjusted family net income (the income limit section explains how that is worked out):

In the lowest band the co-payment is 0%, but extra charges can still apply. Providers bill the plan directly, so you shouldn’t be asked to pay the full cost up front, and you can’t send the plan a claim yourself. Your co-payment level is on your enrolment letter, and it may change when you renew.

Can a dentist charge more than the CDCP pays?

Yes. The CDCP’s fees may not match what providers charge. On top of a co-payment, you may pay extra when your care costs more than the plan reimburses, or when you and your provider agree to a service the plan doesn’t cover. That can happen even when the plan pays 100% of its own fee and you have no co-payment.

Canada.ca gives an example of a family with an adjusted family net income of $76,000, which puts it in the 40% co-payment band. Their provider charges $145 for 2 units of scaling, where the CDCP fee is $134. The member pays the $11 difference plus a $53.60 co-payment (40% of $134), a total of $64.60, and the plan pays $80.40. More examples are in canada.ca’s co-payment factsheet.

Canada.ca’s advice is to ask your provider about any costs the plan won’t cover before you receive care.

What is the CDCP fee guide?

Which services the plan covers, and under what conditions, is set out in two documents:

• The Dental Benefits Guide on canada.ca sums up the plan’s coverage and policies, including its criteria, guidelines and limits. The guide’s effective date is April 1, 2026.
• The CDCP Dental Benefit Grids are published per province or territory, on Sun Life’s website. Sun Life is the company providers bill for CDCP services. The plan pays providers its established fee for each covered service, less your co-payment.

CDCP fees are set apart from the fee guides of the provincial and territorial dental associations, whose fees providers often charge. The plan reassesses its fees annually. That difference between the two fee lists is one reason a bill can include extra charges.

How do you find a dentist who accepts the CDCP?

Taking part in the CDCP is voluntary for providers. Dentists, denturists, dental hygienists, dental specialists and dental schools can bill the plan, either by signing up with it or claim by claim. Depending on the care you need, you might see a hygienist, a denturist, a dentist or a specialist, including at a dental school clinic.

To find one, you can contact a provider in your community or use the plan’s provider search. The phone number for help is in the sign-in section of the application page.

When you book, canada.ca lists three things to check: that the provider accepts CDCP clients and will bill the plan directly, that your coverage is active and what your co-payment level is, and whether there are other costs on top of your co-payment. What to bring to a first appointment is in the member card section.

Where to go next

• Who qualifies for the CDCP
• How to apply for and renew the CDCP
• What dental work costs in Canada
• Private dental insurance
• Government benefits in Canada