Dental Health

Position:

Good dental/oral health is essential to maintaining overall health. alPHa believes that dental health should be treated similarly to any other health care service that is provided by the province, with strong public programs for universal access to treatment and preventive dental health services, particularly early in life.

Resolutions:
#A07-11, Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) Program
#A07-10, Publicly Funded Dental Program to Assist Financially Disadvantaged Ontarians
#A05-5, Access to Dental Care 
#A00-3, 100% Ministry Funding for CINOT

Resolutions	Recent Developments
#A07-11, Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) Program  alPHa requests that the provincial government resume 100% funding of the CINOT dental treatment program; AND FURTHER THAT CINOT fees to service providers remain reasonably attractive by increasing them to at least 75% of the ODA approved fee schedule, reviewing them on a regularly scheduled basis and incorporating a ’cost of living’ increase.	PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR FURTHER HISTORY ON THIS ISSUE October 31, 2007 Letter written to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care introducing this and several other resolutions passed at the 2007 alPHa AGM. Please click here to read.
#A05-5, Access to Dental Care The operative clause of this resolution calls for a National Oral Health Strategy that includes universal access of both preventative and treatment services to all Canadians.	November 30 2006 A follow-up e-mail from Dr. Bowes indicates that he has brought this issue forward to Canada's Chief Dental Health Officer, who has described the current federal position. The text of this reply may be read here. Dr. Bowes further indicates that OAPHD Executive has not suggested further steps or key messages at this time.  November 1 2006 alPHa has received a reply to a request for updates and suggestions for next steps from OAPHD President Dr. Robert Bowes indicating that he would include this on the next OAPHD Executive Meeting agenda. May 8, 2006 Reply received to the February 15 letter. Please click here to read. February 15, 2006 Letter sent to federal Minister of Health Tony Clement indtroducing this resolution. Copies sent to CMOH, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Minister of Health Promotion, CEO of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, President of OAPHD and the Chief Public Health Officer for Canada. Please click here to read.
CLOSED RESOLUTIONS
#A00-3: 100% Ministry Funding for CINOT Please note that this resolution is now closed, as alPHa has passed a more recent resolution with a similar operative clause (A07-11, above). The developments at right are provided for a more complete history of this issue as addressed by alPHa.	July 24 2006 alPHa has been invited by the Ministry of Health Promotion to participate in a consultation on the CINOT Schedule of Dental Services and Fees, and has written a letter outlining considerations as suggested by the Ontario Association of Public Health Dentistry. Please click here to read. January 1 2006 New Schedules of Dental Benefits came into effect for the CINOT (Ministry of Health) and Ontario Works/Ontario Disability Support Program (Ministry of Community and Social Services). Ontario Association of Public Health Dentistry (OAPHD) has been advocating for changes to the covered services for these programs since 2001. The main changes are that fees have been increased (and will continue to increase to a total of 8% over 3 years) and that more general anesthetic services will be offered to some high needs client groups. To view the new schedules click here. December 6, 2002 alPHa affiliate OAPHD met with Brenda Elliott, Minister of Community, Family and Social Services, over the proposed changes to CINOT. November 1, 2002 Health Promotion Ontario, an affiliate of alPHa, wrote the Chief MOH on concerns with proposed changes to CINOT (i.e. fee increase for some services and removal of some services). October 30, 2002 Received a reply from PHB thanking alPHa for its input and support of CINOT.  The letter also corrected alPHa's reference to CINOT as a publicly funded dental insurance program; CINOT is in fact, says the PHB, a safety net program for children with urgent dental conditions. October 2, 2002 alPHa wrote the Chief MOH a letter of support for OAPHD's recommendation that the Ministry increase CINOT program fees to a reasonable level and does not reduce the range of services provided by CINOT in response to proposed changes to CINOT program. May 14, 2002 Sent a letter to Brenda Elliott, the new Minister of Community, Family and Children Services which was reviewed by OAPHD rep and alPHa board member Joyce Sinton. March 19, 2002 Received a letter from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty that he has forwarded the resolution to Health Minister Tony Clement for consideration. March 15, 2002 Received a reply from COMSOC Minister John Baird that mandatory basic dental care coverage was extended to children on the Ontario Works program for the first time in May 1998 and that he will keep alPHa's suggestion of a publicly-funded dental program for children in mind in Cabinet discussions. November 8, 2001 Received a reply from Chief MOH that there are no plans currently to change funding allocation for this 50:50 cost-shared program.  He suggests that we contact the Ministry of Community and Social Services and the Ministry of Finance. October 16, 2001 alPHa sent health unit budget figures on CINOT to Branch. August 21, 2001 alPHa began collecting health unit figures on CINOT budgets with intent to submit these to the Public Health Branch. February 9, 2001 Received a reply from Chief MOH indicating the Ministry will consider the resolution as part of its review of board of health grants. August 29, 2000 Received a reply from Minister Witmer who forwarded the resolution to Chief MOH for a response.
#A07-10, Publicly Funded Dental Program to Assist Financially Disadvantaged Ontarians THAT the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care be requested to begin the process of developing  a publicly funded dental program that assists Ontarians who face financial barriers in accessing basic dental care	April 4th, 2008 Resolution closed by the alPHa Board of Directors April 1 2008 The alPHa Advocacy Committee has recommended closure of this Resolution as the operative clause has been satisfied. March 17, 2008 The Ontario government has announced its plan to provide dental services to low-income Ontarians with an investment of $135 million over three years, starting in 2008 — 09. The government will work with Public Health Units, Community Health Centres, dentists and dental hygienists to deliver prevention and treatment services for low-income Ontarians, especially children. This investment will also expand the Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) program. CINOT currently provides urgent dental care services to children in low-income families from birth to Grade 8 or their fourteenth birthday, whichever is later. CINOT will now include children in low-income families until their eighteenth birthday. November 29, 2007 A commitment is made to “provide dental benefits to low-income families” as part of its comprehensive poverty strategy in the provincial Speech from the Throne. October 31, 2007 Letter written to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care introducing this and several other resolutions passed at the 2007 alPHa AGM. Please click here to read. September 6 2007 The Toronto Star has reported that the NDP and Liberal election platforms will include respective promises of $100M and $45M in annual funding for dental services for low-income families. Please click here to read the article.