About one in six Canadian adults (17.1%) rate the health of their mouth as fair or poor, according to a Statistics Canada analysis of the 2023/2024 Canadian Oral Health Survey. The rate climbs steeply with untreated mouth problems, pain, lower income, no dental insurance and no recent dental visit, and the authors present the figures as a benchmark taken largely before the Canadian Dental Care Plan began.
Canada now has a federal dental program, and the obvious question is whether it improves oral health. Answering that requires a "before" picture. As of October 2026, one of the clearest pictures available comes from a Statistics Canada study published in Health Reports on April 15, 2026, titled "Prevalence and correlates of self-reported fair or poor oral health in Canada." It was written by Michelle Rotermann and Kellie Murphy of Statistics Canada's Health Analysis and Modelling Division, and its numbers are worth knowing for any practice in Ontario that sees Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) patients.
Where the data come from
The study draws on the 2023/2024 Canadian Oral Health Survey (COHS), a voluntary, nationally representative household survey that Statistics Canada ran in partnership with Health Canada. Key details:
- Collection window: November 27, 2023, to March 13, 2024.
- Who answered: 27,039 adults aged 18 or older in the 10 provinces, a 52.2% response rate. The analytical sample was 26,752 people, representing 31.2 million adults.
- Who was not covered: residents of the territories, First Nations reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions and collective dwellings (about 3% of the population). Children were also excluded from this analysis.
- The key question: "In general, how would you rate the health of your mouth?" with answers from excellent to poor. The study grouped "fair" and "poor" together.
The authors describe the results as benchmarks using data collected largely before the launch of the CDCP, which makes this survey a baseline that future evaluations of the program can be compared against.
The headline numbers
Overall, 17.1% of adults reported fair or poor oral health. The bivariate results show where that burden concentrates:
- Gender: 18.5% of men versus 15.6% of women.
- Age: 22.7% of adults 65 or older versus 15.1% of those aged 18 to 34.
- Income: 23.5% in the lowest income quintile versus 7.6% in the highest, about three times more common at the bottom.
- Insurance: 25.3% of those without dental insurance versus 12.1% of those with at least some coverage.
- Population group: 24.3% of racialized adults versus 14.3% of non-racialized, non-Indigenous adults; 24.4% of immigrants versus 14.2% of non-immigrants.
- General health: 54.5% of people who rated their general health as fair or poor also rated their oral health that way.
Some of these gaps changed once the authors controlled for other factors. In the adjusted models, the age association lost statistical significance, and having no natural teeth was not a significant predictor of fair or poor oral health, a result the authors call unexpected. The odds of reporting fair or poor oral health were 1.7 times higher for racialized, non-Indigenous adults than for non-racialized adults, but when the results were split by gender, that disparity held only among women. Income showed the reverse pattern: lower-income men differed significantly in all lower quintiles, while among women income was not associated with the outcome.
Mouth problems compound quickly
The most clinically useful part of the study looks at four self-reported conditions: persistent mouth pain, untreated mouth problems, avoiding certain foods because of the mouth, and persistent dry mouth. In the COHS, "mouth problems" covered conditions that cause pain or discomfort, including abscesses, gum issues, untreated cavities, fillings needing replacement, tooth pain, injuries and mouth sores.
Adults reporting each condition were far more likely to rate their oral health fair or poor than those without it (roughly 2.5 to 5.5 times as often):
- Untreated mouth problems: 46.6% versus 8.4% without.
- Avoiding certain foods: 45.8% versus 10.8%.
- Mouth pain: 39.7% versus 10.0%.
- Persistent dry mouth: 31.1% versus 12.5%.
Stacked together, the pattern is steep.
Appearance matters too. Among adults dissatisfied with how their teeth or dentures look, 57.2% rated their oral health as fair or poor, compared with 4.5% of those who were satisfied and 28.2% of those who were neither.
Pro Tip: The four COHS conditions make a quick chairside screen. Asking new patients about pain, anything they know needs fixing, foods they avoid and dry mouth takes little chair time, and in the survey each of these conditions was associated with a markedly higher rate (about 2.5 to 5.5 times) of fair or poor self-rated oral health, which is useful context for treatment planning conversations.
Self-care and access still show up in the data
The survey also captured basic habits and access, and each tracked with self-rated oral health:
- No dental visit in the past year: 31.4% fair or poor, versus 11.2% for those who had visited.
- Brushing less than twice a day: 25.4%, versus 13.4% for twice-daily brushers.
- Flossing fewer than five times a week: 18.7%, versus 13.5% for regular flossers.
- Daily or occasional nicotine use (including vaping products): 24.1%, versus 15.9% for non-users.
The authors report that following recommended self-care, including twice-daily brushing and annual check-ups, was associated with better self-reported oral health even after accounting for confounders. Because the data are cross-sectional, these are associations, not proof that the habits caused the difference.
What this means for the Canadian Dental Care Plan
The study's framing is explicitly about measurement. The authors note that financial barriers to oral care in Canada are expected to decrease with CDCP eligibility, and that monitoring oral-health changes after the program's introduction is required to capture progress. Their analysis supports using a single self-rated question as a population-level monitoring indicator, citing benefits such as low cost, easy integration into existing health surveys and improved timeliness through more frequent surveys.
For dental professionals in Toronto, Markham, Scarborough and across Ontario, three implications stand out:
- The baseline is now public. When future surveys report on oral health after the CDCP, the 17.1% figure and its income and insurance gradients are the comparison point.
- The highest-need groups are identifiable. Lower-income adults, uninsured adults, immigrants, racialized adults and people without a recent dental visit all reported fair or poor oral health at markedly higher rates.
- Patient perception lines up with clinical problems. High agreement between self-rated oral health and the other measures supports taking a patient's own rating seriously at intake.
Pro Tip: If your practice serves a high share of CDCP patients, consider recording each new patient's own rating of their mouth (excellent to poor) using the survey's exact wording. Over time it gives you an internal measure you can compare with the national 17.1% baseline.
Limits to keep in mind
The authors list several. All data are self-reported and subject to social-desirability bias. Estimates for specific racialized groups and for First Nations, Métis and Inuit people could not be produced. Children, the territories and on-reserve populations were not covered. Bleeding gums, a key periodontal indicator, could not be used because it was not asked of all respondents. And the study cannot say anything yet about change after the CDCP; it describes the starting line.
EBIKO Dental will continue monitoring Statistics Canada and Health Canada releases on oral health and the Canadian Dental Care Plan. For practice supplies across Canada, visit EBIKO Dental.
Sources
- Rotermann M, Murphy K. Prevalence and correlates of self-reported fair or poor oral health in Canada. Health Reports, Vol. 37, No. 4. Statistics Canada, April 15, 2026. Article
- Statistics Canada, The Daily, April 15, 2026. Release
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What percentage of Canadians rate their oral health as fair or poor?
17.1% of Canadian adults aged 18 or older rated their oral health as fair or poor in the 2023/2024 Canadian Oral Health Survey, according to a Statistics Canada study published in April 2026. The rate was 18.5% for men and 15.6% for women.
Q: Which Canadians are most likely to report poor oral health?
Rates were especially high among people with several mouth conditions (65.0% with all four), people dissatisfied with how their teeth look (57.2%) and people with untreated mouth problems (46.6%). They were also elevated among adults with no dental visit in the past year (31.4%), no dental insurance (25.3%) or the lowest incomes (23.5%).
Q: Does this data show whether the Canadian Dental Care Plan is working?
No. The data were collected largely before the CDCP launched, so Statistics Canada presents them as a benchmark for measuring future change rather than an evaluation of the program.