Dental Woes

Page 12

Changes to the schedule of benefits in dental health care has Alberta dentist Deb Crowfoot concerned and worried about his patient's oral health.

The changes, which went into effect Jan. 1, were imposed without input from the people who most deal with a Native clientele and will affect the community greatly, said Crowfoot.

Paul Glover, Director General of the Non-Insured Health Benefit Program said changes to the benefit schedule were limited to three areas including the expanded use of prior approval; changes to frequency limits; and the expansion of the preventative nature of the program.

Prior approval is needed from the program for major surgeries, which are intrusive and usually expensive, said Glover. This means that before any such work is done, the benefit program must make certain the surgery is necessary.

Crowfoot said the program is being very strict on what is now being approved.

The program is now limiting (to three) the number of general exams covered for a patient per year, and limiting retrofilling- the treatment of a cavity on the same surface on the same tooth, said Glover.

A filling should last for three years and that is all the program will cover, said Glover. If the dentist has to refill that surface, the dentist will have to "eat the cost" of the treatment.

But the frequency limitations go farther than that, said Crowfoot. Denture replacement is only covered every eight years. A patient can only have one root canal done every three years. General anesthesia has been cut completely for people over 17, he said. Dental scaling has also been limited.