ArticlePloS one2024
Enhancing seniors' dental care access: Analyzing the impact of government insurance in Canada.
Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trends in the Prevalence of Tooth Loss Due to Dental Caries During Periods of Dental Health Insurance Expansion in Korea.Oral health & preventive dentistry · 2026Article
- Factors associated with socioeconomic inequalities in the use of dental services among Brazilian older adults: an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis.BMC oral health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A crucial policy question for the government is whether publicly funded insurance programs effectively improve access to care. Using 2015 and 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) data, we first estimated the effect of government dental insurance for seniors on promoting regular care access and lowering cost barrier. When controlling for individual heterogeneity, we found that having government coverage is associated with significantly lower probability of reporting avoidance of dental care due to cost compared to having no coverage. This effect is comparable with other types of insurance. However, the impact of the government program on regular access to dental care is modest. Secondly, using a portion of data collected in Alberta, we found that the government plan does not increase the overall coverage rate. Moreover, switching from an employer-based plan to government-provided coverage for seniors reduces the probability of regular access to care and increases the probability of experiencing cost barrier. This finding indicates that without expansion of overall coverage rate, the current government dental program may not be generous enough to offset the negative impact of leaving the employer-based plan.
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Registered trials
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