Yes. Complete dentures and partial dentures are both covered services under the CDCP. Coverage is not unlimited, though. The plan applies frequency limits, some denture services need preauthorization first, and depending on your household income you may have a co-payment. Implant-supported dentures are excluded entirely. Bring your Sun Life details to your consultation and we will confirm exactly where you stand before any treatment is planned.
A standard three-unit bridge, which replaces one missing tooth using the two neighbouring teeth as anchors, typically falls somewhere around $2,500 to $4,500 in Ontario. Your actual cost depends on the material, how many units you need, and whether the anchor teeth need any work before they can carry the bridge. We give you an itemised written estimate after we examine you, and you can take it to your insurer for a predetermination before you commit.
No, and be cautious of anyone who tells you they are. A bridge is fixed, which means it is cemented in place and you cannot remove it yourself. That is not the same as permanent. With good daily cleaning, a bridge commonly lasts around 10 to 15 years, sometimes longer. What usually ends one early is decay in the anchor teeth underneath, which is why cleaning under the bridge every day matters so much.
The appointment should not be painful. We freeze the area and wait for it to take effect before starting, so what you feel during a bridge preparation is pressure and vibration rather than pain. Afterwards, expect some tenderness. Anchor teeth can be cold-sensitive for a few days to a couple of weeks, and new dentures usually create a sore spot or two that we ease at a follow-up. If dental work makes you anxious, tell us when you book and we will adjust how we run the appointment.
They will feel like yours, and for most people that gets comfortable within a few weeks. But we are not going to tell you they feel and function identically to natural teeth, because they do not. Chewing is less efficient, especially at first, and you will change how you eat some things. What a good denture does is restore your bite, hold up your facial structure, and let you talk and eat and smile without thinking about it. If a lower denture will not stay put no matter what, implants used as anchors are usually the honest answer, and we will tell you that rather than keep adjusting something that cannot work.
It depends mostly on the teeth either side of the gap. If they are perfectly healthy, a bridge means grinding down two good teeth to save one, and an implant leaves them alone. If those neighbouring teeth already need crowns, a bridge does two jobs at once and often makes more sense. Implants cost more up front and take longer, usually several months, but they do not rely on the neighbouring teeth. Bridges are faster, typically two to four weeks. We will show you what we see on the X-ray and tell you which way we would lean, and why.