Politics, policy, and values: The political economy of dentistry in Canada

Canada is entering a time of potential dental health care reform. Nationally, regionally, and locally, events mirror those of the United States only 10 years ago, whereupon the result was Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General. By presenting national and/or regional trend data on: a) dental caries, 1950 to 2005; b) dental care utilization and insurance coverage, 1951 to 2005; c) total, private, and public per capita dental expenditures, 1926 to 2005; d) private and public dental human resources, 1945 to 2005; e) the household budgetary share for dental care, 1969 to 2003; f) visual and print media of dental relevance, 1945 to 2005; and g) a 2005/06 survey of public and dentists' opinions on publicly financed dental care; we consider the linkages between professional policy, a developing welfare/neoliberal state, the predominant social values surrounding oral health, and subsequent impacts on access to care. It is argued that there is now opportunity to better meet the dental health care needs of all Canadians, whilst remaining of relatively low political struggle for and within the Canadian dental profession and governments.