The B.C. government's cuts to a dental program for low-income children will mean funding only half the preventative care.
It's a move that concerns the head of the Strathcona Health Society, the non-profit clinic that serves the children of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
Yesterday, for example, a seven-year-old patient sat down and revealed a mouthful of advanced tooth decay.
"That family we saw today, we'd like to see them again in six months," said Stephen Learey, executive director of the Strathcona Health Society. "Now we won't see them for at least a year."
More than 500 of the clinic's young patients each year are covered by the BC Healthy Kids Program, which until this month paid for dental checkups, polishing and fluoride treatments twice a year for children in families collecting income assistance.
That's the same level of care provided in most private dental plans, including the one used by the province's elected officials and civil servants.
The BC Healthy Kids Program now covers annual checkups along with other basic dental services - such as X-rays and fillings - for a total of $1,400 every two years.
Rich Coleman, Minister of Housing and Social Development, dismissed the comparison between Healthy Kids and the program for elected officials because MLAs contribute to their plan.
"That's co-pay, to start," he said, while the government pays 100 per cent of the Healthy Kids plan.
In fact, B.C. MLAs don't pay for their dental plan, B.C.'s legislative comptroller Dan Arbic confirmed yesterday. "The dental plan for MLAs is the same as for public servants. It's 100-per-cent employer funded."
Although the program for MLAs doesn't cover 100 per cent of all services, it does fully cover twice-yearly dental checkups for the children of MLAs.
Earlier this month, Mr. Coleman announced a series of changes to BC Healthy Kids that will save the province $3-million over the next two years.
Some of those changes are positive but the reduction of regular visits is bad policy, Mr. Learey said. In a dental practice where it is already a challenge to teach children and their parents good dental-health habits, a lot of damage can occur in a year.
"Low-income families have a higher rate of dental decay than affluent families," Mr. Learey noted. The clinic routinely sees school-age children who have never been to a dentist before, who will arrive with ten or more teeth with visible decay. "Imagine trying to concentrate in class with your teeth hurting," he said.
Once the kids come in the door, the dentists and dental assistants focus on demonstrating proper brushing and flossing, but it will be harder if they can't reinforce those messages regularly.
Adrian Dix, the New Democratic Party health critic, noted that even MLAs are eligible for more frequent dental care.
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