Passengers board a plane at the Délı̨nę airport in the Northwest Territories in November, 2025, to access dental care.Tate Juniper/The Globe and Mail
The government of the Northwest Territories announced in the legislature Wednesday that it is taking steps to improve access to dental services, with new federal funding to replace equipment and plans to restore in-community dental visits.
The territory’s Health Minister, Lesa Semmler, said the new measures – including $3-million for equipment – will fix long-standing barriers and bring dental care back to communities.
“For too many residents of the Northwest Territories, especially in small and remote communities, getting dental care has meant long waits, cancelled clinics, or costly travel outside their home community,” Ms. Semmler said, according to a copy of her legislature speech that was posted online.
The announcement follows an in-depth story published by The Globe and Mail in March that illustrated how access to dental care in the territory has worsened over the past few years. The reporting revealed that seven northern communities have not had a dentist visit in six years or more. Many people have to travel thousands of kilometres for treatment. Others who can’t travel, particularly elders or single parents with child-care pressures, have gone for years without access to a basic service in Canada.
In Wednesday’s announcement, the territory said a new three-year agreement with Health Canada, under its Oral Health Access Fund, will provide more than $3-million to repair and replace aging dental equipment in communities. That agreement took effect on April 1, the government release said.
How the North became a dentistry desert
In its reporting, The Globe spoke with dentists in the territory who said inadequate or poorly maintained equipment was a key challenge in providing in-community care. That, along with a lack of dental spaces in communities, meant some dentists had stopped bidding on government dental-service contracts.
In recent years, the territory said in its release, outdated or unsafe equipment has contributed to cancelled visits and gaps in service.
The funding means an initial focus this year on assessing dental spaces and equipment, planning upgrades and developing standardized dental room layouts, it said, followed by equipment repairs and replacements in the next two years.
In its release, the territorial government also said that it has an agreement with Yellowknife-based Adam Dental Clinic to provide visiting dental services to some communities in the Sahtu, South Slave and Dehcho regions.
Dental services are to resume in Fort Simpson, Fort Resolution, Fort Providence and Norman Wells this summer. Visits are expected to then expand to other communities.
Although none of the four communities named are the ones identified by The Globe as lacking dental services for six years or more, the expanded coverage could lessen travel times for some of the people living there.
The release didn’t say when visits will be restored for other communities in the territory. The NWT has 32 communities outside of Yellowknife. In the northern Beaufort Delta region, for example, remote communities haven’t had a dentist come in more than two years.
Indigenous leaders in the North press governments to restore, improve dental care access
Restoring dental-care access “is much, much needed,” said Paulina Roche, chief executive officer of the Délı̨nę Got’ı̨nę Government. Her fly-in community hasn’t had a dentist visit in more than three years.
“People will be happy to get the dental service, especially in the communities, because you don’t know what children are going through.”
Children in many communities have gone without access to an essential service. Without regular checkups or cleanings, some are experiencing severe dental decay. One pediatric dentist in Yellowknife told The Globe that he recently needed to extract 12 adult teeth from a 13-year-old girl.
“We’re so isolated as a community, and we don’t even have that service for how many years? Five years, six years? It’s needed,” Ms. Roche said.
Dental clinics in several regional hubs, such as Inuvik, have closed in recent years. As a result, residents needing care have had to spend days travelling to capital cities such as Yellowknife, or further to Edmonton or Whitehorse for treatment.
Governments had been wrangling over responsibilities in dental care. The federal government, under its non-insured health benefits (NIHB) program, provides dental coverage for eligible First Nations and Inuit clients. This includes paying dental providers for services during community visits and covering travel costs for those who need treatment. The territory co-ordinates the logistics of travel and visiting clinics.
A new NIHB agreement between the federal and territorial governments was signed in March, though it didn’t initially include details on dental coverage or services.
Last month, Inuvialuit Regional Corp., an organization that represents the Inuit of the Western Arctic, said it has federal funding to start a new Inuvik-based medical clinic, which will provide dental services. It is slated to open in 2027.
Ms. Semmler said these new measures “means more reliable dental clinics; fewer cancelled appointments due to equipment failures; and fewer trips out of community for basic dental care.”