Statistics Canada's first direct oral health measurements in more than 15 years show a split picture: complete tooth loss among Canadians aged 60 to 79 fell from 22% to 8%, but tooth decay is unchanged and periodontal pockets have deepened, with just over one-third of adults now showing pockets of 4 mm or more. A companion 2026 study adds that self-rated oral health rises with pain and untreated problems, and is worse among people who skip annual visits.
Canada now has hard numbers on the state of its patients' mouths. As of October 2026, two Statistics Canada releases give Ontario dental practices the first direct national oral health measurements in more than 15 years, plus new self-reported data: clinical examination data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS), released December 1, 2025, and an April 15, 2026 Health Reports study built on the Canadian Oral Health Survey (COHS).
The headline is good news on tooth retention and less comfortable news on gums. For practices in Toronto, Brampton, Vaughan and across the GTA, the data are worth reading closely, because they describe the patients already in your recall system and the ones who have not come in for years.
Where the Data Come From
Statistics Canada collected cycle 7 of the CHMS from November 2022 to December 2024. It is the first time in more than 15 years that the survey has gathered direct oral health measures; the previous round was 2007 to 2009. StatCan notes that direct measures give more accurate information than self-reports.
The CHMS covers people aged 1 to 79 living in the 10 provinces. It excludes residents of the three territories, people living on reserves and other Indigenous settlements in the provinces, and a few other groups, which together represent about 3% of the target population. That limit matters: the national figures likely say little about some communities, such as First Nations reserves and the territories, where access is often hardest.
Fewer Canadians Are Losing All Their Teeth
The clearest improvement is in edentulism. According to StatCan, the share of adults aged 20 to 79 with no natural teeth fell from 6% in 2007–2009 to 3% in 2022–2024. Among seniors aged 60 to 79, it dropped from 22% to 8%, from roughly one in five to fewer than one in ten.
StatCan says the decline likely reflects improvements in dental care and a gradual shift in treatment practices from extraction-focused approaches toward preserving natural teeth.
It also changes the patient mix. More retained teeth in older patients means more teeth to monitor, more restorations to maintain, and more root surfaces and periodontal sites to chart at every recall.
Tooth Decay Has Not Moved
The caries numbers are flat. StatCan reports that the prevalence and severity of tooth decay were unchanged from 2007–2009:
- Children aged 6 to 11: 57% had at least one affected primary or permanent tooth, the same as in 2007–2009, with an average of 2.4 affected teeth.
- Youth aged 12 to 19: 58% had at least one affected permanent tooth, compared with 59% in 2007–2009, averaging 2.3 affected teeth.
- Adults aged 20 to 79: 93% had at least one affected permanent tooth, compared with 96%. The average decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) count was 9.7, compared with 10.7, which StatCan describes as stable.
Two measures appear for the first time. Among children aged 1 to 5, 17% had at least one primary tooth affected by decay, a new baseline for future monitoring. And the survey recorded the PUFA index, which flags advanced consequences of untreated decay: visible pulpal involvement, ulceration, fistula or abscess. PUFA affected 7% of children and youth aged 1 to 19 and 22% of adults aged 20 to 79.
Pro Tip: If 17% of children aged 1 to 5 already have a tooth affected by decay, the first dental visit should not wait for school age. Review how your front desk answers new parents who ask when to book, and make sure the answer is consistent across your team.
Gum Health Is Moving the Wrong Way
The periodontal data are the most important part of the release for hygiene departments. StatCan notes that probing depths of up to 3 mm are generally considered healthy, while deeper pockets may indicate early signs of gum disease. Between 2007–2009 and 2022–2024, the distribution shifted deeper among adults aged 20 to 79:
Put simply: just over one-third of adults now have pockets of 4 mm or more, compared with one in five in 2007–2009. StatCan notes that close to two-thirds of adults are still in the healthy range, but the direction is clear.
Bleeding on probing is common too. Among Canadians aged 20 to 79, 83% bled from at least one tooth during probing, with an average of seven bleeding teeth. Rates were highest among people aged 20 to 39 (90%) and lowest among those aged 60 to 79 (76%). StatCan says this highlights the importance of improving oral hygiene and access to care among young adults.
Why Are Pockets Getting Deeper?
StatCan says the shift appears to be in line with international trends, citing recent studies from the United Kingdom and Australia. It links those patterns to limited access to preventive dental care, high treatment costs, unequal insurance coverage and socioeconomic challenges. For Canada specifically, the agency writes that gaps in early intervention, combined with persistent access and coverage challenges since 2007–2009, may be contributing. Note the wording: "may be." The survey describes the change; it does not prove the cause.
What Patients Say About Their Own Mouths
The April 2026 Health Reports study used the COHS, which StatCan calls the first-ever national survey wholly dedicated to oral health in Canada, with data collected from November 27, 2023 to March 13, 2024. Overall, 18.5% of men and 15.6% of women rated their oral health as fair or poor.
Those ratings followed real problems. As the number of self-reported conditions rose (mouth pain, untreated mouth problems, avoiding certain foods because of mouth problems, and persistent dry mouth), so did fair or poor ratings: from 5.7% among people with none of those conditions to 65.0% among people with four.
The study also found higher risk of fair or poor oral health among men, racialized (non-Indigenous) people, people in lower-income households and people with lower general health. Not having had an annual dental visit, or not brushing twice daily, was associated with worse self-rated oral health.
Pro Tip: A single intake question such as "How would you rate the health of your mouth?" costs ten seconds and, based on StatCan's findings, tends to reflect pain and functional problems. Add it to your new-patient and lapsed-patient forms and flag "fair" or "poor" answers for the clinician.
A Provincial First: Nova Scotia
Through a collaboration with Nova Scotia's Department of Health and Wellness, the CHMS produced provincial-level direct oral health estimates for the first time. StatCan reports Nova Scotia results were closely aligned with national ones overall, although bleeding on probing was notably lower: adult DMFT averaged 9.2 in the province versus 9.7 nationally, while 65% of Nova Scotian adults showed bleeding on probing compared with 83% nationally. Nova Scotia plans to use the data to inform provincial policy and programs. Ontario has no equivalent provincial breakdown in this release.
What This Means for Ontario Practices
The national data do not change clinical standards, but they sharpen priorities:
- Chart every pocket, every time. With 4 mm and 5 mm pockets roughly doubling nationally, full periodontal charting at recall is how a practice spots the shift in its own patients before it becomes attachment loss.
- Do not assume young adults are low risk. The 20 to 39 age group had the highest bleeding rate in the survey, at 90%.
- Plan for retained teeth in older patients. Fewer edentulous seniors means more natural teeth needing maintenance well into a patient's seventies.
- Treat lapsed patients as a clinical priority, not just a scheduling one. A StatCan Health Reports study links missed annual visits to worse self-rated oral health.
EBIKO Dental will continue monitoring Canadian oral health data and what it means for practices in Ontario. For more Canadian dental news, visit ebiko.ca.
Sources
- Statistics Canada, The Daily: New direct measures suggest more adults are keeping their teeth, but gum health is declining, 2022 to 2024 (December 1, 2025)
- Statistics Canada, The Daily: Health Reports, April 2026 (April 15, 2026)
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is gum disease increasing in Canada?
Statistics Canada's direct measurements show periodontal pockets getting deeper: just over one-third of adults aged 20 to 79 had pockets of 4 mm or more in 2022–2024, compared with one in five in 2007–2009. In the same survey, 83% of adults bled from at least one tooth during probing.
Q: How many Canadian seniors have lost all their teeth?
According to Statistics Canada, 8% of Canadians aged 60 to 79 had no natural teeth in 2022–2024, down from 22% in 2007–2009. Among all adults aged 20 to 79, the rate fell from 6% to 3%.
Q: Has tooth decay in Canadian children improved?
No. StatCan found caries prevalence and severity unchanged since 2007–2009: 57% of children aged 6 to 11 had at least one affected tooth in both periods. For the first time, the survey also measured children aged 1 to 5 and found 17% had at least one primary tooth affected by tooth decay.