Dr. Heather Carr president@cda-adc.ca Resiliency inUncertain Times In the last few months, I’ve enjoyed meeting and talking with colleagues across the country. Many of these conversations focused on the federal government’s commitment to launch the CanadianDental Care Plan (CDCP) in 2023; your candor and honesty was valued. Although I’m pleased more Canadians will have access to oral health care, I wish we could accurately predict what to expect from the CDCP to help us all prepare for it. Feelings of uncertainty are stressful, especially when added to the burdens we’ve all weathered from the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing staffing challenges. As a practising dentist, I share your feelings of uncertainty. This is the most significant change to Canadian dentistry that I’ve seen in my 35-year career. Together with my colleagues on the CDA board and among the leadership of the provincial and territorial dental associations (PTDAs), we’ve been advocating for a federal program design that can provide effective and sustainable access to those who need it most, without negatively impacting employer-sponsored dental care coverage and the current model of care delivery that our patients depend on. As you might expect, since the federal investment was first announced, it has been “allhands-on-deck” for CDA and the PTDAs. In February, before Health Canada began its work developing the CDCP, CDA published a policy paper that provided a roadmap for a successful, long-term program (see: bit.ly/3EZV6gD). The PTDAs then formed a technical submission working group, which includes executive directors, CEOs and staff from the PTDAs with support from CDA staff. The group is leveraging dentistry’s knowledge about how oral health care works in Canada—a unique system that is fundamentally different from the medical care system. The group engaged strategists and federal legislative experts to develop products and program modeling to demonstrate how potential policy decisions could impact CDCP outcomes. The group has also shared projections about the risks if some employers eliminate dental benefits for their employees and explained how fee guides are developed by PTDAs to reflect the current cost of care in each province or territory, among other topics. By providing such data and reports, CDA and the PTDAs are viewed as trusted resources by the federal government. We are making the most of this opportunity to help make the CDCP the best it can be. We are focused on maintaining primary delivery through Canada’s existing network of dental offices to prevent any disruption to the excellent oral health care most Canadians already receive. I’ve been impressed and inspired by the efforts of the working group and the entire CDA team. They’ve all been working flat out. They’ve forged relationships with key government officials and shared expertise and wisdom that, frankly, no one else has. This collaborative effort makes me proud. As I write this, in early July, I hope that you can take some time for yourself to care for your own health and well-being. As dentists, we must take care of ourselves so that we can care for others. We don’t know with certainty how the CDCP will be designed and even with everyone’s best intentions, it may have unpredictable results once implemented. But I do know that regardless of what happens, we’ll continue to support you and advocate for you, no matter what. From the President 7 Issue 4 | 2023 | CDA atWork
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