Dental Assisting

As recently as fifty years ago most people expected to lose their teeth as they aged. Today, many Canadians enjoy straight, white teeth and far more of them are keeping their teeth for the entirety of their lives. Yet these advances have not reached everyone. The Smile Gap examines the enormous improvements that have taken place over the past century. A significant number of Canadians still lack access to good oral health care, especially disabled Canadians, those on social assistance, the working poor, the elderly, and new immigrants. People with damaged and missing teeth are at a substantial disadvantage, not just because of the pain and suffering caused by poor oral health, but because we live in a society that prizes good teeth. To complete our health care system, it is time to close the gap.