CDCP
Please read first. This tool is an unofficial reference guide only.
It does not make a coverage decision and it is not connected to Sun Life, Health Canada,
or the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). Only the CDCP can approve or deny a request after
a preauthorization is submitted by your oral health provider. The stage and grade quiz is
an educational estimate, not a diagnosis. Always confirm with your dental office and the
official CDCP Dental Benefits Guide.
CDCP Checklists and Gum Disease Quiz
Walk through the criteria one screen at a time. Pick a category to begin.
Plain language glossary
- Preauthorization
- A request your dental office sends before treatment to find out if the CDCP will cover a service. Crowns and root canal re-treatment always need it. Scaling needs it only for units beyond the yearly maximum.
- Single unit crown
- A crown that covers one tooth. Eligible types are cast metal, porcelain or ceramic fused to metal, and porcelain or ceramic. Crowns on implants are not covered.
- Ferrule
- A band of solid tooth structure that the crown grips around. The CDCP looks for about 1.5 mm of healthy tooth for the crown to hold onto.
- Crown to root ratio
- A comparison of how much tooth sits above the bone versus how much root is anchored in the bone. A ratio of 1:1 or better (for example 1:1.5 or 1:2) means enough root is supported by bone.
- Furcation involvement
- Bone loss in the area where the roots of a molar split apart. Its presence counts against adequate support.
- Root canal re-treatment
- Redoing a root canal on a tooth that already had one. The CDCP covers 1 re-treatment per tooth in a lifetime and it always needs preauthorization.
- Apicoectomy and retrofilling
- Minor surgery on the tip of a tooth root, and the small filling placed there. Each is covered once per tooth in a lifetime and needs preauthorization.
- Scaling and root planing units
- Time based units of cleaning below the gum line. For age 17 and up the plan covers up to 4 units in any 12 months in combination with root planing. More than that needs preauthorization.
- Periodontal chart
- A record of gum measurements. A complete chart has 6 measurements per tooth and must be dated within the last 12 months.
- PSR (Periodontal Screening and Recording)
- A quick gum screening scored by sextant. A score of 4 in any sextant, or 3 in two or more sextants, means a complete periodontal chart is required.
- Clinical attachment loss (CAL)
- How far the gum support has pulled away from the tooth, measured in millimetres. It is the main measure used to stage gum disease.
- Staging (I to IV)
- Rates how much damage gum disease has caused. Stage I is early, Stage IV is advanced with the risk of losing teeth.
- Grading (A to C)
- Rates how fast gum disease is progressing. Grade A is slow, Grade B is moderate (the usual starting assumption), and Grade C is rapid.
Criteria reflect the CDCP Dental Benefits Guide and the 2026 CDCP Dental Benefit Grid for Ontario. The stage and grade quiz reflects the 2017 World Workshop classification of periodontal diseases. Questions about a specific case can go to the Sun Life CDCP Contact Centre at 1-888-888-8110.