verified_userIndependent data • Reviewed June 2026

Methodology & Data Sources (Canada)

This page explains who we are, where our Canadian dental fee data comes from, how we treat gaps in publicly available sources, and how the dataset is licensed for reuse. We are a data and market-research team — not dentists, not affiliated with the Government of Canada or the CDCP.

Who we are

The Real Dental Costs Data & Research Team is a team of independent data analysts and market researchers. We collect, cross-reference and publish dental pricing data so that Canadian patients can compare costs before booking treatment.

We are not dentists, dental hygienists, or any kind of regulated healthcare professional. We do not review patient records, provide clinical diagnoses, or recommend treatments. Nothing on this site constitutes medical or dental advice. This is pricing and market research — the same kind of data published by consumer-price databases, insurance analytics firms and provincial health ministries.

We do not claim clinical review authority for any page on this site. That positioning will only change if and when a named, licensed dentist formally co-reviews our content — which has not occurred as of the date below.

Data sources

Provincial suggested-fee guides (2025–2026)

The primary source for all procedure prices is the annual suggested-fee guide issued by each provincial dental association. These guides set the recommended — not mandatory — fee for each dental procedure code. We collect and reconcile figures from:

Ontario — Ontario Dental Association (ODA) Suggested Fee Guide 2026
Quebec — Association des chirurgiens dentistes du Québec (ACDQ) Guide des tarifs abrégé 2025
British Columbia — British Columbia Dental Association (BCDA) Suggested Fee Guide 2026
Alberta — Alberta Dental Association (ADA) Suggested Fee Guide 2026
Nova Scotia — Nova Scotia Dental Association (NSDA) Abbreviated Fee Guide 2026
New Brunswick — New Brunswick Dental Society (NBDS) GP Abbreviated Fee Guide 2026
Prince Edward Island — Dental Association of Prince Edward Island (DAPEI) Abbreviated Fee Guide 2025
Saskatchewan — College of Dental Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CDSS) Abbreviated Fee Guide 2026
Manitoba — Manitoba Dental Association (MDA) Suggested Fee Guide 2026
Newfoundland and Labrador — NLDHA 2026 schedule and Atlantic modelling (see estimation rules below)

CDCP coverage rules — Government of Canada

For CDCP eligibility, income tiers, covered procedures, frequency limits and pre-authorization requirements, we reference only the official CDCP pages on canada.ca and the Dental Benefit Grids published by Health Canada. We do not interpret or summarise unpublished internal documents.

Sun Life benefit grids

The CDCP is administered by Sun Life. We cross-reference their published benefit-grid summaries to verify reimbursement percentages and identify where a dentist's actual charge may exceed the CDCP fee (balance billing).

How we handle estimates

Where a provincial fee guide is restricted to association members (currently Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador for most procedure codes), we cannot obtain verbatim figures. In those cases we:

Identify the two or three nearest provinces with a published guide and a similar cost-of-living profile.
Derive a modelled range by averaging those neighbouring figures and applying the most recent published annual guide increase for the region (typically 3–4% in 2026).
Flag every modelled cell with is_estimate: true in the open dataset CSV.

Estimated cells are never presented as official guide prices. Pages and calculators on this site surface the estimate flag visually so users know when they are looking at a modelled figure.

Open dataset

All provincial fee figures compiled by this team are published as a freely downloadable dataset:

CSV download: canada-dental-cost-index-by-province-2026.csv
DOI (citable record): 10.5281/zenodo.20744781
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

You may use, share and adapt this dataset for any purpose — including commercial research — as long as you credit Real Dental Costs and link to the DOI record.

Disclaimer

This website publishes independent dental pricing and market-research data for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, dental advice, a clinical diagnosis, or a treatment recommendation. Real Dental Costs is not affiliated with the Government of Canada, Health Canada, the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP / RCSD), or any provincial dental association.

Costs vary by dentist, clinic and location. Always confirm your CDCP coverage with Sun Life and obtain an exact quote from a licensed dentist before proceeding with any treatment.

Review & update cadence

This page and the underlying dataset were last reviewed on 18 June 2026. We update provincial fee figures annually, typically in Q1 when most provincial associations release their new suggested-fee guides. CDCP coverage rules are reviewed whenever Health Canada publishes an update to the Dental Benefit Grids.

Explore the data: Dental Costs in Canada · CDCP Coverage

Frequently asked questions

Are these prices official government rates?

No. The figures on this site come from the annual suggested-fee guides published by provincial dental associations (ODA, ACDQ, BCDA, Alberta DA, NSDA, NBDS, DAPEI, CDSS, MDA, NLDHA). These guides set recommended — not mandatory — prices. Individual dentists may charge more or less. For CDCP reimbursement amounts, the Government of Canada publishes its own Dental Benefit Grids on canada.ca, which are the only official reference.

Are you dentists or healthcare professionals?

No. The Real Dental Costs Data & Research Team is composed of data analysts and market researchers, not dentists or any kind of healthcare professional. We read publicly available fee guides and government documents and compile the numbers — we do not provide clinical advice, diagnoses or treatment recommendations. Always consult a licensed dentist for clinical guidance.

How do you handle provinces where the fee guide is members-only?

For Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Newfoundland and Labrador, the full suggested-fee guide is restricted to association members. Where we cannot obtain verbatim figures, we model an estimate from the published guides of neighbouring provinces with similar cost structures, then apply the most recent annual guide increase percentage for the region. All such cells are flagged is_estimate: true in our open dataset CSV so researchers and journalists can exclude or weight them independently.

Can I cite or reuse your dataset in my research?

Yes. The Canada Dental Cost Index by Province (2026) is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0) and has a permanent DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20744781. You are free to use, share and adapt it for any purpose — commercial or non-commercial — as long as you attribute Real Dental Costs and link to the DOI record.

Researched & verified by the Real Dental Costs Data & Research Team

Independent dental pricing research — figures verified against provincial suggested-fee guides (ODA, ACDQ, BCDA, etc.) and the CDCP coverage rules published on canada.ca. Pricing/market research, not medical or dental advice.

Reviewed: June 18, 2026How we verify our data

Data Methodology & Sources

The Real Dental Costs Data & Research Team compiles pricing data from provincial suggested-fee guides (ODA, ACDQ, BCDA, Alberta DA, NSDA, NBDS, DAPEI and others, 2025–2026) and the official CDCP coverage and guide pages on canada.ca. The full per-province dataset is published openly (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20744781). Figures marked as estimates are modelled from neighbouring-province guides where a guide is members-only.

Pricing & Research Disclaimer: Real Dental Costs publishes independent dental pricing and market-research data for informational purposes only. It is not medical or dental advice, a diagnosis, or a treatment recommendation, and it is not affiliated with the Government of Canada or the CDCP. Costs vary by provider and province — always confirm coverage with Sun Life and get an exact quote from a licensed dentist.