Coverage
CDCP and dental implants
The plan does not cover implants, and you should hear that plainly rather than halfway through treatment. Here is what it does cover, and what your options are either way.
Does the CDCP cover dental implants?
No. The Canadian Dental Care Plan does not cover dental implants. That applies at every income tier and to every part of the treatment — the implant, the abutment, the crown fitted on top, bone grafting, and implant-supported dentures. The plan's benefit grid excludes them in writing, which means it is not a decision made case by case and there is no appeal that changes it.
We would rather you read that here than find it out at a reception desk. It is the question we are asked most often by patients who carry a CDCP card and are missing a tooth, and the answer has not changed since the plan opened.
Nothing announced so far suggests it is going to change. The plan was built around preventive and essential care, and implants sit outside that line along with other elective restorative work. We are not going to guess at what a future government decides — if the benefit grid changes, this page changes with it.
What the CDCP does cover along the way
Some of what comes before an implant is covered. The plan pays for examinations, x-rays and the removal of teeth and roots. If the tooth you are replacing still has to come out, that extraction and the imaging around it are claimable under your CDCP coverage even though the implant that follows is not.
Be careful about what that means, though. It does not make the implant cheaper. What it does is take the first stage of treatment off your bill — and for some people that first stage was the part standing in the way of starting at all.
| Step in implant treatment | CDCP |
|---|---|
| Examination and diagnosis | Covered |
| X-rays | Covered, to a frequency limit |
| Removal of the tooth and root | Covered as oral surgery |
| 3D CBCT scan | Not listed — we check |
| Bone grafting at the implant site | Excluded |
| The implant and abutment | Excluded |
| The crown fitted on the implant | Excluded |
| Implant-supported dentures | Excluded |
| A conventional bridge | Excluded |
| A removable denture | Covered |
Two conditions sit over all of this. X-rays run to a frequency limit — eight small intraoral films in any twelve months, and one panoramic film in any five years — so imaging taken recently elsewhere can affect what is claimable now. A co-payment applies once family net income reaches $70,000 — you pay 40% of the fee between $70,000 and $79,999, and 60% between $80,000 and $89,999. Below $70,000 there is no co-payment. At $90,000 and above you are not eligible for the plan.
Everything in that table comes from the plan's own published list of covered services and its Dental Benefits Guide, which anyone can read: what the CDCP covers, on Canada.ca. We check your own coverage before anything is booked and tell you what came back, including where the answer is no.
Why an implant is still worth discussing
If you are reading this, the practical situation is probably something like: there is a tooth missing or failing, there is a card in your wallet that covers a denture, and there is a gap between the two that you are being asked to pay for. That is a fair thing to be frustrated by.
Here is the reasoning we would give you in the chair. A dental implant is the only replacement that puts something back into the bone. The post takes the load of chewing and passes it into the jaw, which is the signal the bone needs to hold its shape. A denture rests on the gum and a conventional bridge is carried by the teeth on either side; neither loads the bone where the tooth used to be, so that bone gradually narrows.
That is the argument for an implant, and we think it is a good one. It is not an argument that an implant is right for everyone. Some people are better served by a denture, some by a bridge, and some by leaving a back tooth space alone. One thing worth knowing if you are weighing those up: the plan does not pay for a bridge either. Fixed bridgework sits on the same exclusion list as implants, so among the ways of replacing a tooth, a removable denture is the one the CDCP covers. Health, bone volume, what else is happening in the mouth and what you want out of it all bear on the answer. What we would ask is that the decision gets made on the clinical picture, with the cost laid out honestly next to it — rather than made for you by a coverage grid.
If you are not on the CDCP
Plenty of people land on this page and discover they are not eligible — usually because they have access to a workplace plan, which rules out the CDCP, or because family net income is $90,000 or more.
If you do have private dental insurance, the picture is different and generally better. Most Ontario plans treat implants as major restorative work at around 50%, against an annual maximum somewhere between $1,500 and $2,500. Some cover the crown but not the implant. Some carry a waiting period. Several will cover the extraction and the imaging, including a CBCT scan, even where they decline the implant itself. It is worth reading your booklet, and we will verify the details for you either way. More on how we handle insurance.
Making it work when the plan will not
Not being covered is not the same as not being possible. Most of what we do for CDCP patients who want an implant comes down to three things.
- Use the coverage you have. The extraction and the imaging go through the plan. That is a real reduction in what you pay out of pocket, and it is the part people most often do not know about.
- Stage the treatment. The tooth comes out now, the site heals, and the implant follows when you are ready for it. Done deliberately, with the site preserved, this costs nothing clinically — it is a normal treatment sequence, not a compromise.
- Finance the implant portion. Twelve to sixty months, arranged before treatment starts so you know the monthly figure in advance.
Which of those applies to you depends on your mouth and your circumstances, and we cannot work that out from a web page.
The implant consultation is free and carries no obligation. You will leave it knowing what your CDCP coverage pays for, what the implant would cost you, what the alternatives are, and what happens if you decide to wait. That is worth an hour even if the answer you reach is not an implant. Book a free consultation or call (905) 479-7777.
Questions about the CDCP and implants
Does the CDCP cover dental implants?
No. The Canadian Dental Care Plan does not cover dental implants, at any income tier. The exclusion covers the implant itself, the abutment, the crown fitted on top, bone grafting, and implant-supported dentures. It is written into the plan's benefit grid rather than decided case by case, so there is no appeal or pre-authorisation route that changes the answer.
Will the CDCP ever cover implants?
Nothing announced so far suggests it will. The plan was designed around preventive and essential care, and implants sit outside that definition along with other elective restorative work. We are not going to guess at what a future government does — if the benefit grid changes, we will update this page.
What parts of implant treatment does the CDCP pay for?
The steps before the implant. The plan covers the examination, x-rays and the removal of teeth and roots. If the tooth you are replacing still has to come out, that extraction and the imaging around it are claimable even though the implant that follows is not.
Frequency limits apply to x-rays, and a co-payment applies if your family net income is $70,000 or more.
Is a CBCT scan covered by the CDCP?
We do not assume so. A CBCT is a 3D scan and the plan's grid lists conventional x-rays. Rather than tell you it is covered and be wrong, we check your specific coverage before anything is booked and tell you what came back.
Does the CDCP cover dentures instead?
Yes. Dentures are covered, and for some people that is the right treatment. A standard complete denture is one per arch in any eight years; a partial acrylic denture is one per arch in any five, and needs preauthorisation first. What a denture will not do is hold the bone in the jaw the way an implant does, because it rests on the gum rather than being anchored in bone. That is the trade-off to weigh, and it is worth weighing properly rather than by price alone.
We have written the comparison out in full: dental implants compared with dentures.
I have a CDCP card. Can I still get an implant?
Yes. Being a cardholder does not limit what treatment you can have — it limits what the plan pays for. You can use your coverage for the extraction and the imaging, and pay for the implant portion separately, including over time.
How much would the implant part cost me?
A single implant at our practice is $3,500 to $6,000 all in, covering the extraction, grafting where the site needs it, the placement, the temporary crown and the final crown. Where the CDCP pays for the extraction and imaging, those come off your share. You get a single written figure after the consultation, not a range. Full detail is on our implant cost page.
Can I spread the cost?
Yes, two ways. Treatment can often be staged — the tooth comes out now under your coverage, the site heals, and the implant follows when you are ready, without harming the clinical result. Or the implant portion can be financed over twelve to sixty months. We will go through both at the consultation. How payment works.
Is the consultation free?
Yes. The implant consultation is free, and there is no obligation attached to it. You will leave knowing what your coverage pays, what an implant would cost you, and what the alternatives are — whether or not you go ahead.
Ready to explore dental implants?
Book a free consultation for an itemised estimate specific to your case. Call (905) 479-7777.