Demand and Burden of Dental Care in Canadian Households

This paper examines factors associated with dental care spending in Canada employing through three models; the first model estimates the income elasticity of demand for dental care and the other two models estimate the share of total household income spent on dental care. The income elasticity of Canadian households in 2009 with respect to out-of-pocket dental care spending was 0.146 (p-value<0.001). The lowest income quintile had the highest odds for spending $0 on dental care, which could indicate not using dental care or having full coverage. However, when these households did spend on dental care, they were most likely to have a higher burden of dental expenditure as a share of household income. Having private health insurance is associated with an increase in the demand for dental care but it also reduces the likelihood of the households having a higher burden of dental expenditures as a share of household income. Older adults (65 years or older), compared to young adults (aged 29 years or less) are most likely to spend on dental care and most likely to be in the higher burden category (RRR 2.55 compared to lower burden category, p-value < 0.001). This study found significant interprovincial variation; Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Alberta households were found to spend the most on dental care when compared to the rest of the provinces.