Dental Care Saved My Life. Trudeau’s Dental Care Program Will Save More.

Ten years ago, my dentist made a life-saving discovery. During a routine dental exam, he noticed wear marks on my teeth consistent with sleep apnea. Even as he neared retirement, he continued to keep up with the latest science, taking a course that gave him the knowledge he needed to spot signs of the disease.

I mentioned his findings to my doctor who sent me for a sleep test. On average, I woke 103 times per hour or once every 26 seconds. My blood oxygen level, which should rest around 96%, sank all the way down to 70%. Anything below 90% is considered dire. 70% is considered immediately life-threatening.

It was the worst case the technician at Toronto General had seen in her 16 years on the job. I was immediately given a continuous positive airway pressure or CPAP machine. I now have fewer than one sleep disturbance per hour. My blood oxygen level now sits around 93–94%. As long as I use the device, I’m functionally cured.

Without that catch by my dentist, my life might have looked much different. Untreated sleep apnea lowers the oxygen level in your body, causing your heart to work harder and your arteries to narrow. This nightly cardiac stress can increase your risk of heart attack and death by 30%. The link between sleep apnea and cardiac stress is so strong that studies show 60% of stroke patients also suffer from sleep apnea.

But it’s not just your heart and vascular system that’s at risk. Research also shows that sleep apnea is tied to a 30% increase in cancer risk. And because sleep apnea results in increased carbon dioxide in your blood, it can help create insulin resistance in your body that leads to diabetes. Each of these existential threats makes sleep apnea a silent killer.

Of course, sleep apnea is not the only serious illness linked to oral health. According to the Mayo Clinic, poor oral health can lead to endocarditis, cardiovascular disease, pneumonia, and even premature births and low birth weights in children. While we may treat oral health care as a minor concern and largely as separate from the rest of our bodies, it is a crucial piece of the puzzle when it comes to lifesaving health interventions.

Despite this, not all Canadians have access to dental care coverage or the lifesaving diagnoses it might provide. Those that receive dental care either rely on private insurance to cover a portion of the cost or they are forced to pay for it entirely out of pocket.

The other 35% of Canadians don’t receive annual dental care. That number exactly matches the number of people who lack dental insurance across the country. And that number rises still further for Canadians earning low-incomes. 51% of those with low-incomes can’t afford an annual dental exam. Cost is clearly a barrier and potentially a deadly one.

While this picture looks bleak, there’s good news on the horizon. Despite pushback from some of his own supporters, Prime Minister Trudeau is phasing in dental health care coverage for Canadians. The Canadian Dental Care Plan “will help ease financial barriers to accessing oral health care for eligible Canadian residents who have an annual adjusted family net income of less than $90,000 and don’t have access to dental insurance”.

By May of this year, all seniors will be covered. By June, all kids under 18 and all people living with disabilities will also be covered. The rest of Canada will follow by 2025 and cost will cease to be a barrier to accessing this care.

It’s now ten years since I was first diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I’m now the age my grandfather was when he had his first of seven lifetime cardiac events. Thanks to my dentist’s good work and the nightly aid of a CPAP machine, I haven’t suffered the same fate.

While most coverage has focused on whether our teeth are worth the price tag attached to the new dental care program, the fact that I’m still alive tells me the program will be a crucial preventative step towards better health for all Canadians and an economic equalizer when it comes to accessing healthcare across this country.