Yes. The Canadian Dental Care Plan does cover dentures, including complete and partial removable dentures, along with repairs, relines, rebases, and tissue conditioning. Coverage comes with frequency limits, preauthorization for most services, and copayments tied to household income. Implant-supported dentures, precision attachment partials, and cosmetic work are excluded.1
Which Dentures the Plan Pays For
The CDCP groups dentures into complete and partial categories, each with its own replacement clock measured per arch (upper or lower).
- Complete standard dentures: once per arch every 96 months (eight years).
- Complete immediate dentures: once per arch per lifetime, sharing a combined limit with provisional dentures. As of April 1, 2026, immediate dentures no longer require preauthorization.
- Complete provisional or transitional dentures: once per arch per lifetime. A patient can get either a provisional or an immediate denture after extractions, not both.
- Complete overdentures: once per arch every 96 months, preauthorization required.
- Partial acrylic dentures: once per arch every 60 months.
- Partial cast (metal frame) dentures: once per arch every 96 months.
- Transitional partial dentures: once per arch every 60 months.
- Partial dentures with a long-term soft liner: once per arch every 60 months.
The fee for any of these dentures includes impressions, models, bite registration, try-in, insertion, and three months of post-insertion care. Adjustments, relines, repairs, or tissue conditioning during that three-month window cannot be billed separately.
Flexible dentures and flippers are not named in the CDCP Dental Benefits Guide. Whether a specific prosthetic fits a covered code depends on the CDCP Dental Benefit Grids, and providers are directed to confirm with the Sun Life CDCP Contact Centre at 1-888-888-8110 before starting treatment.
What the Plan Will Not Pay For
Some denture-adjacent services are hard exclusions with no appeal:
- Implants and implant-supported or implant-retained dentures.
- Precision attachment partial dentures.
- Fixed prosthodontics, including bridges and bridge-related procedures.
- Cosmetic procedures such as veneers, whitening, and any purely aesthetic work.
Repairs, Relines, and Rebases
If you already have dentures, the plan covers ongoing maintenance on its own schedule:
- Relines and rebases: once per arch every 36 months.
- Repairs: once per arch every 12 months.
- Tissue conditioning: twice per arch every 12 months.
Health Canada encourages providers to weigh repairs, relines, rebases, or tooth additions before fabricating a new denture. A new denture will not be covered within 24 months of a reline or rebase on the same arch.
What You Actually Pay
The CDCP pays a set percentage of its own established fee based on adjusted family net income:
- Under $70,000: no copayment; the plan pays 100 percent of the CDCP fee.
- $70,000 to $79,999: you pay 40 percent of the CDCP fee.
- $80,000 to $89,999: you pay 60 percent of the CDCP fee.
Here is the catch that trips up most patients. The CDCP fee schedule is generally lower than provincial fee guides, and if your provider charges more than the CDCP fee, you pay the difference on top of any copayment. One Canadian denture clinic reported that patients at the 100-percent coverage level still tend to face roughly 20 percent out of pocket because of that gap. Ask your provider for a written estimate that shows both the CDCP-covered portion and any balance you will owe before treatment starts.
Preauthorization
Most denture services need Sun Life’s approval before fabrication begins. Initial placement of partial dentures, overdentures, and any request that exceeds a frequency limit still requires preauthorization; complete immediate dentures no longer do as of April 2026. Replacement of a partial or complete denture that the CDCP originally paid for generally does not require preauthorization if it falls within the frequency limits.
Providers submit the request electronically through EDI or by mail. A complete submission includes the claim form, treatment plan, dated radiographs from within the previous 12 months, a periodontal chart when applicable, and clinical rationale. As of mid-2025, more than 80 percent of preauthorization requests were processed within seven business days; incomplete submissions can stretch that to weeks. Approvals are usually valid for 12 months as long as you remain eligible on the date of service. Emergency treatment performed without prior approval can be submitted afterward as a post-determination request with an explanation of the urgency.
If You Already Have Dentures
Dentures obtained outside the CDCP, whether through another program or paid for privately, do not count against the plan’s frequency limits. Someone who got dentures five years ago on their own can still qualify for new dentures through the CDCP now.
The first partial denture you claim under the plan is treated as an initial placement and needs preauthorization even when it is replacing an older prosthetic. The simpler replacement pathway only applies once a CDCP-funded denture reaches the end of its frequency period.
Timing between denture types matters too. After a provisional or transitional denture, you become eligible for a standard denture or overdenture six months later. After an immediate denture, the wait for a standard replacement is 96 months.
Denturists Can Bill the Plan
You do not have to go through a dentist to get dentures covered. Denturists are recognized providers under the CDCP alongside dentists, dental hygienists, and dental specialists, and they submit using the Denturist Association of Canada claim form and procedure codes. Examinations by a denturist do not count against the annual exam maximum with your dentist, so a denture consultation will not reduce your remaining exam coverage.
Participation is voluntary for all providers. You can find participating dentists and denturists through Sun Life’s CDCP Provider Search Tool or by calling 1-888-888-8110.
Denials and Appeals
Coverage on paper and coverage in practice are not the same thing. Health Canada data reported by Oral Health Group showed that roughly half of preauthorization requests for complex dental procedures between November 2024 and June 2025 were denied. Health Canada attributed many denials to incomplete submissions, particularly missing radiographs, periodontal charts, or treatment plan details. Partial denture submissions had somewhat higher completion rates than some other complex procedures.
CBC News reported in June 2026 on a Toronto senior, Cameron Brown, whose denture request was rejected as “not essential” and whose dentist’s appeal was also denied, leaving him to pay $1,000 himself. Dr. Kirk Preston, then president of the Canadian Dental Association, said the appeals process was perceived as so lengthy that some patients were canceling treatment entirely and risking irreversible tooth loss. Before your provider submits, confirm that the file includes current radiographs, a periodontal chart if relevant, and a written clinical rationale, because the most common reason for denial is documentation the reviewer cannot find.