While dental work is a basic necessity, it doesn’t come cheap. Without insurance, you may need to apply for dental financing in Canada to cover your costs, especially if you need urgent care. Keep reading to learn more about the different ways you can qualify for dental financing, even with bad credit.
You can get secured or unsecured personal loans from a bank, credit union, online lender or peer-to-peer lending site. Compare and apply for pre-approval with multiple lenders to find the best dental financing, then pick the lender you like best and fill out an application. Your money should be deposited within 24 hours with many online lenders.
Some dentist’s offices provide in-house financing directly to patients, usually through a third-party provider like PayBright. Just fill out an application directly with the suggested lender to see if you qualify. Upon approval, they will usually transfer funds directly to your dentist to cover the cost of your treatment.
Yes, dentists can let you pay for dental work in installments. Some dentists are also open to giving you a lower rate if you don’t have insurance.
Many universities across Canada operate student-run dental clinics, which provide lower cost dental services than regular clinics. These university clinics help dental students learn how to do work on real patients, typically with their instructors present. You may also be able to find a regular clinic that offers discounts for children, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, Indigenous peoples or people with low incomes.
| Location | List of clinics |
|---|---|
| Toronto, Ontario | Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto, Regent Park Community Centre, West End Oral Health Centre and more. |
| Ottawa, Ontario | Algonquin College Dental Clinic, Canadian National Institute of Health (dental hygiene), La Cité Dental Clinic, The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus, Healthy Smiles Ontario and more. |
| Winnipeg, MB | Access Downtown, Deer Lodge Centre, Home Dental Care Program, Mount Carmel Clinic, Winnipeg Children’s Dental Clinic, S.M.I.L.E. Plus Program and more. |
| Regina, SK | Saskatchewan Polytech’s Dental Clinic, Signature Smiles (for seniors). |
| Edmonton, AB | University of Alberta School of Dentistry Patient Clinics, Boyle McCauley Health Centre and more. You can also apply for assistance with various provincial programs. |
| Calgary, AB | Calgary Urban Project Society (CUPS), Alex Dental Health Bus, Alberta Children’s Hospital and more. You can also apply for assistance with various provincial programs. |
| Vancouver, BC | UBC Orthodontics, UBC General Dentistry and UBC Emergency Clinic, Vancouver Public Health Children’s Dental Program, Strathcona Community Dental Clinic, Reach Dental Clinic, Mid-Main Dental and more. |
| Victoria/Sidney, BC | Camosun College Dental Clinic (dental hygiene), Cool Aid Community Health Centre Dental Clinic, O.R.C.C.A. Dental Clinic Society. |
| Montreal, QC | Jim Lund Dental Clinic, Alpha Seaforth Clinique Dentaire. |
| Halifax, NS | Dalhousie Dentistry School. You can also apply for assistance with various provincial programs. |
| Saint John’s, NL | Apply for provincial subsidies to get discounts with select dentists. |
| Saint John, NB | Apply for provincial subsidies to get discounts with select dentists. |
| Charlottetown, PEI | Apply for provincial subsidies to get discounts with select dentists. |
You may be able to get specialized dental loans with services such as Dentalcard. They will approve you for a loan and pay your dentist’s office directly, and then you pay them back with monthly payments. Your dentist needs to be a member of the Dentalcard network in order for you to participate.
Lines of credit give you a revolving pool of funds to draw from. Only borrow and pay interest on what you need, and keep the rest as an emergency fund. As you make repayments, the money becomes available for you to borrow again. Having a line of credit pre-approved for emergencies can be a lifesaver in a dental emergency, especially if you need to fund follow-up care.
You can apply for a low interest credit card to cover the cost of your dental work. These cards usually come with 8.99% to 12.99% interest and most have a low annual fee between $25 and $35. Use your card for dental financing and then pay it back on your own schedule.
Government-funded dental programs can help to subsidize the cost of dental care. Your eligibility for the program may be automatic in some cases, or you might be required to apply online or by mail to be considered. Common programs include subsidized funding for children, people with disabilities, veterans, elderly people, Indigenous peoples and adults without private dental plan coverage.
The Canada Dental Benefit (CDB), which launched on December 1, 2022, is a short-term initiative offered by the Government of Canada to help pay for children’s dental care. This benefit will pay out $650 a year (tax-free!) for the next 2 years for eligible children under the age of 12 to receive dental services.
The benefit you get will be based on your income and must be used for dental work. You’ll need to keep your receipts and input information about your child’s dentist and appointment date when you fill out the application.
You can apply for this benefit until June 30, 2024.
The other dental coverage program, the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), launched in December 2023 and is available to seniors aged 65 and over. However, starting on June 27, 2024, applications will open for children under 18 as well as adults between 18-64 years old with a valid disability tax credit.
This program covers a wide range of oral health care services. The government will give back to you a percentage of the cost based on CDCP fees and your family income.
Most loans for dental financing in Canada will require you to meet the following criteria:
To apply for dental financing in Canada, you may need the following documents:
Yes, you can get dental financing for bad credit in Canada. But be prepared to pay much higher interest rates and fees. You may also need to work a bit harder to find a lender willing to finance you, depending on how low your score is. Start by comparing the best loans for bad credit or apply with a loan broker to get multiple offers from bad credit lenders.
If you want to increase your chances of approval, you can also consider securing your loan with an asset or asking a friend or family member to cosign your loan with you.
In Canada, the majority of personal loan lenders will check your credit report and score, even if they offer dental financing for bad credit in Canada. No credit check lenders do exist, but they’re usually payday lenders. In any case, expect to see higher interest rates and fees with lenders offering no credit check because of the additional risk they need to take on to finance you.
Consider these questions when looking for the best dental financing in Canada:
Follow the steps below to apply for loans for dental financing in Canada.
You can use dental financing in Canada for any procedure you need. The price you pay will depend on which province you live in and which dentist you use. Every province has its own dental fee guide to help dentists figure out how much to charge for their services. This helps the province set standards for pricing, but in the end, dentists can charge whatever they want.
For the table below, we pulled pricing from the 2022 BC dental fee guide. Your true cost will depend on which province you live in and what dentist you use. Some common procedures aren’t covered under the fee guide, so we have provided the average cost, based on our own research.
| Procedure | Cost of services |
|---|---|
| Intake exam | $60 to $119 |
| Returning customer exam | $40 to $60 |
| X-rays | $108 |
| Teeth cleaning (including fluoride) | $75 to $250 (depending on units of scaling) |
| Root canals | $570 |
| Tooth extractions | $161 to $272 per tooth |
| Tooth repair | $147 per tooth |
| Root planing (for gum disease) | $50 to $200 |
| Cavity filling | $129 to $158 per tooth |
| Crowns | $949 per tooth |
| Procedure | Cost of services |
|---|---|
| Wisdom tooth removal | $150 to $550 per tooth, depending on the level of impaction |
| Dentures | Between $2,700 and $3,200 – the cost for partial dentures will be less |
| Braces/retainers | $7,000 to $12,000 |
| Veneers | Around $1,100 to $2,000 per tooth |
| Bridges | A basic 3-unit bridge starts from around $2,600 |
| Teeth whitening | In-office cost can be anywhere from $200 to $1,000 |
| Dental implants | Can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000 per tooth |
| Invisalign | Between $2,000-$8,000 |
Susan, an elderly woman in Edmonton, takes an unexpected fall and knocks out her front tooth. She heads to her local dentist to get the tooth replaced and learns that it will cost her $2,700. She needs to take out a personal loan to help cover the costs. When Susan visits the bank to get the money she needs, she is offered the following dental financing:
| Cost of tooth implant | $2,700 |
| Loan type | Personal loan |
| Loan amount | $2,700 |
| Interest rate (APR) | 10% |
| Loan term | 1 year |
| Additional fees | $0 |
| Monthly payment | $237.37 |
| Total loan cost | $2,848.47 |
As you can see, Susan will pay almost $200 in interest over the course of 1 year. If her term is longer, her monthly payments will be lower but she’ll pay more interest over time.
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