Dental Care in Canada – How much it costs, How it works

Because of a badly treated cavity, I finally stayed in Montreal for two months – because the radio showed even more problems than I thought. Let me tell you about the care I received and the fees

Why get treatment in Canada?

Because I’m just there right now. But after the excellent care I received, I thought it was a good choice.

I know I can’t generalize, the quality of care obviously depends on the dentist but for someone with a lot of dental problems, I found the care experience much more pleasant and effective in Canada.

• Anesthetics are used to make the experience as painless as possible
• Dentists take the time to explain each step, so as not to surprise patients (e.g. if there is a certain noise, it is normal)
• Super advanced techniques & machines: for example, the computer took care of my crown
• Ultra-bright & perfect smile obsession: here the standards are much higher than in France. Care is offered in prevention, for optimal health, we do not treat just because we are in pain, hence the almost mandatory X-rays as soon as we see a dentist.

I am in a good position to tell you that all the difficult care I did in France was very badly executed, and I am paying – very dearly – for the negligence of my French dentists – and doing it all over again 🙁

I may have had a bad time in France but I still went through 4 different dentists who did me more harm than good.

I think that for people with few dental problems, it won’t be worth the cost of getting treatment in Canada.

On the other hand, as soon as you need heavier and longer lasting care such as crowns, implants, veneers etc. I strongly recommend that you refer, if you are already there, to dentists in Canada, the United States, Switzerland.

How to pay less?

There are as many fees as there are dentists, as many fees as you have problems, Canadians say you should ask for the fees, and call several dentists – compare like buying a car.

• The trick is to call the dental offices and ask the secretary for the fees. If it is for a fairly standard treatment (especially if you already know what you want to do), such as a devitalization for example, she can give you an order of magnitude + the fees to add if there is a complication.
• You can also show your x-rays to several dentists + pay for the basic examination. Then he will make you what is called a treatment plan. It is possible that the plan isn’t precise because your case may be less / more serious than what the x-ray shows. In this case, you can ask for the treatment plan for the worst case scenario. This will tell you if you are willing to get treatment in Canada, at what cost, and whether it is cheaper to travel to France and back.

How’s it going?

I found it very easy to make an appointment in Montreal. Especially for an emergency. The dentist has several assistants so there is always an assistant with me, to do X-rays etc. so the dentist takes care of 2-3 patients at the same time, but everyone is happy.

• The patient is accompanied at all times
• The appointment is on time
• The dentist doesn’t waste time waiting and doing nothing

Even if on the paper, for a heavy treatment of 2 hours, there is no provision before 2 weeks, I could always get in because there are often cancellations. And the patients usually notify me quite early (the day before), giving me time to be notified by my dentist and get organized.

What about insurance in all this?

Being digital nomads, we are neither PHAs nor temporary residents in Canada, the insurance we have subscribed to is the one offered to travelers by Chapka (click here to get a quote )

They reimburse up to 500€ per year per person for urgent dental care, i.e. :

• abscesses
• toothache
• devitalization
• extraction
• filling (caries)

If it is related to an accident, it is up to 440€ per tooth (max 1300€ per claim).

The rates

In this article, you will have a vague idea of the costs of care in Montreal (June 2019) for the following care :

• Basic Examination
• Descaling
• Cavities
• Devitalization
• Gum care (paradontal treatment)
• Teeth whitening
• Crown

I’m sorry if I give a little too much detail (gores) but it’s to explain why some treatments, in my case, cost more than others

Basic Examination

Full Review	135$CA
Panoramic radio	60$CA
TOTAL	195$CA

It rarely stops there, you’ll at least get a scaling I think.

Descaling – De-scaling

Descaling is counted per unit of time (one unit = about 15 minutes), if after the basic examination you see that there is a lot of scale, there will be more units of time and you will pay more.

Here the scaling is done by a hygienist, not the dentist, it is a separate profession. Quebecers talk about “curage”. The curage in Quebec is really effective, we leave the dentist with an incredible feeling of cleanliness.

Descaling, 1 time unit	60$CA
Prophylaxis, permanent teeth	65$CA
TOTAL	125$CA

For dentists who like to do a scaling, it takes 45 minutes of scaling (and $186 CDN). That’s a very long time, yes. And not very pleasant. There is no anesthetic for scaling, but if you are too scared, I think your dentist can do something.

Cavities

X-ray & Exam & Treatment fees	72$CA
Care of a very difficult cavity (very close to a nerve)	128$CA
TOTAL	200$CA

I have a cavity so deep that it almost hit the nerve. The (very good) dentist I saw in Morocco refused to treat me because he was afraid he would have to devitalize the tooth, and for him, I don’t stay long enough in Morocco to do it. In Morocco I treated other cavities and it cost me 50€ per cavity. My dentist in France made things worse and almost touched my nerve (for info, she made me pay 53€ in France, 100% reimbursed by sécu + mutuelle)

Unable to eat hot/cold food, I had to seek emergency treatment in Canada as soon as I arrived here. An x-ray was taken. And here, my dentist in Canada not only saved my tooth (no devitalization) but also put a kind of bandage over the “hole”. A real miracle!

Here, the cavity treatment is done with an anesthetic. A real joy because it makes the experience much more bearable.

Cavity care is one of the treatments reimbursed by Chapka travel insurance (click here for a quote) Chapka reimbursed me for all expenses (less a €35 “deductible” that they charge for treatment in the US or Canada)

Devitalization – Root canal treatment

Devitalization of a tooth – one root	850$CA + 100$CA care fees
Devitalization of a tooth – two roots	1000$CA + 100$CA care fees

The cost of devitalization really depends on how many roots the tooth has. I didn’t have my teeth de-boneed in Canada, but again, de-boneing is part of the care reimbursed by travel insurance. Chapka (click here for a quote) within the limit of 500€ per year.

The devitalization is done in one hour, and in Quebec, they call it“root canal treatment“. Since I have not used this treatment in Canada, I will not be able to give you more details.

I know that devitalization fees are much cheaper in France (between 50€ and 100€).

The only time I’ve used this was in Vietnam, and I spent at least 10 hours, spread over a week, at my dentist’s (the best in Vietnam not everyone is that good). The work was so impeccable that 25 years later, all the dentists I have seen recognize his excellent work. From what I understood, a good devitalization is very very important, because it can have a lot of impact in the future, you have to choose a very good dentist for that.

Gum care – Paradontal treatment

My gums have always bled – a lot – when I brush my teeth. One of the obvious signs for dentists is heavy bleeding during scaling. However, my French dentists never thought this was a problem. They made me take x-rays before concluding “ah it’s because you’re naturally weird”😀

Without my telling my Canadian dentist, she immediately noticed that my gums were not healthy. This was followed by a complete periodontal examination, sampling to see what bacteria it was… According to her, it could be genetic, and if it continued without treatment, I risked seeing my teeth fall out one by one 🙁

Paradontal examination (the depth of the gum surrounding each tooth is measured)	100$CA
Microscopic observation	60$CA
Other paradontal care, prophylaxis	95$CA
TOTAL	255$CA

My dentist showed me how to brush my teeth, with a special brush and special products as well. I was given capsules to take for two weeks, as well as special products to use for brushing my teeth + interdental brushes to buy in addition. So here are the fees I paid at the pharmacy

Medocs & Mouthwashes	77$CA
Dental brushes (Swiss)	30$CA
Dental products	20$CA

The treatment was so effective that in just 2 days, the gums stopped bleeding when brushing the teeth.

Teeth whitening

Before making a crown (if it is visible), it is advisable to do a tooth whitening, to find the true color of the natural teeth=>
create the crown with the right color
.

But many Canadians get their teeth whitened because there are often packages or discounts at the dentist. Don’t forget the ultrabright obsession across the Atlantic!

You can have your teeth whitened at the dentist in 2 hours, or with a custom-made tray and products to put in it at home, every day for two weeks.

Having sensitive teeth, I preferred to opt for the second solution to have less pain. So, before whitening, I already had to brush my teeth with a desensitizing paste for severaldays to help re-create the enamel. My dentist notes the before and after color. In my case, I gained two shades in two weeks (with an application of 30 minutes/day).

Bleaching at the dentist (2h)	600$CA
Home bleaching – 2 weeks (custom made gutter + 9% concentrated products)	450$CA

Crown

I think this is the only treatment cheaper than in Paris . I know that crowns (and implants) are poorly reimbursed at the base in France, so if you have the opportunity, go to Canada to have a crown placed.

I broke a front tooth, so the crown, which is very visible, must be very, very beautiful (I also smile a lot). It’s complicated to place just a crown between two natural teeth. It is a technical feat in terms of shape, durability and especially color.

So if you are making a crown for the first time, you may have to devitalize the tooth and, if possible, have the teeth whitened (see prices above). Here are the fees that await you:

Pivot	195$CA
Tooth reconstruction	180$CA
Custom Crown	1420$CA
TOTAL	1795$CA

If it’s not a tooth that is too visible and requires a complicated esthetic adjustment, you can even have your crown within a day.

If you just come to change your crown (the crown doesn’t have a life span of 80 years either, so you have to change it every 20 years or so), and the pivot is intact, here are the costs that await you

Remove the current crown	68$CA
Tooth reconstruction	180$CA
Custom Crown	1420$CA
TOTAL	1668$CA

To make my crown, my dentist brought out her superb CEREC machine. It scans my teeth, generates a 3D representation of all my teeth, so there is no need to take dental impressions by hand and adjust the crown by hand => with my computer made crown, there is much less risk of breakage, or poor fit.

While waiting for the final crown (about 1 week), I had to make do with a temporary tooth, which was also very nice.

I will tell you more about crowning in another article because it seems very important to me.

Bruxism

For the moment, I’m trying to cure my bruxism through hypnosis, I talked about it here.

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I hope this lengthy article has given you an idea of dental care fees in Canada. Once again, the care I received was so excellent that I don’t regret spending more here in Canada – to have peace of mind for years to come.

Do not hesitate to ask me if you would like to have the contact information of my superb dentist in Montreal.