More P.E.I. dentists signing on to federal seniors dental program, association says

Dentists in P.E.I. are slowly getting on board with Ottawa's new dental care program for seniors, according to the head of the association that represents practitioners on the Island.

"Initially it was slow, there was lots of confusion there still is lots of confusion but the number of dentists that are participating now [has] increased," said Dr. Mike Connolly, CEO of the Dental Association of P.E.I.

Launched in May, the federal government's Canadian Dental Care Plan was met at first with frustration and confusion from both dentists and the seniors it was meant to serve.

Some patients were under the impression services would be free, while dentists were left with extra administrative paperwork in order to claim reimbursement from Ottawa.

Seniors with household incomes above $90,000 a year are not eligible for the program. For seniors with incomes between $70,000 and $90,000, there is a co-pay.

In March, 90 per cent of the dentists surveyed by the P.E.I. association indicated they would not sign on to deliver services through the program.

By mid-April, though, dental associations left a meeting with federal Health Minister Mark Holland satisfied that some of the program's wrinkles could be ironed out.

Connolly said many of those initial issues no longer exist.

"I don't know if that message has been communicated as well to our dentists as I would hope it would be. It's the summer;it's hard to get people's attention," he said. "This is something that the dental association itself is somewhat neutral [on], because it really is the individual dentist's decision whether they participate or not.

"I'm hopeful that, as more people do participate, ... that will catch on and it'll grow."

One of the changes that came out of the meeting with Holland is that dentists no longer need to sign up for the program itself. Instead, they can make a submission to itfor payment, much as they would to a private insurance company.

Many dentists' offices short-staffed

Connolly estimated that about half of the dentists working on P.E.I. are now offering services usingthe plan, though it's hard to say how many for sure.

Patients can search for a provider in their area through aSunlifewebsite, but Connolly said many dentists are choosingnot to be listed.

"There's a lot of dental offices that are busy in P.E.I. and Atlantic Canada, and we just do not have the ability to see many new patients," he said, attributing that to a shortage of dentists, hygienists anddental assistants.

"We're doing the best we can to keep track with the patients that we have currently, so [if] we take on new patients and we don't have the ability to see that patient, we're not doing them any favours by giving them appointments and bringing them in [to] our office."