What does the plan say about implants?
The Dental Benefits Guide is the Government of Canada's policy document for the CDCP. Its list of exclusions names implants and all implant-related procedures, and it defines an exclusion as a service that sits outside the plan at all times and is never eligible for coverage. This page reflects the Guide that took effect on April 1, 2026, as last updated on August 28, 2026.
Sun Life, the plan's administrator, tells members the same thing in its welcome brochure. If a dental office submits an implant to the plan anyway, Sun Life declines it as not covered.
Some services need pre-approval (preauthorization), which is approval from the plan before treatment starts. When the plan turns down a pre-approval request, your dental office can, at your request, ask for one reconsideration within 60 days of the refusal, with new clinical information. The plan never reconsiders an exclusion, and its separate process for rare exceptions is open only to services that are not on the exclusions list. Neither route applies to an implant.
What counts as implant-related?
The Guide does not list every implant-related step one by one: its exclusion takes in all of them, and the plan does not pay for procedures related to a service it does not cover. The Guide names these, and excludes each of them:
- The implant itself, and ridge augmentation, both listed as exclusions in the Guide's oral surgery section.
- Any crown supported by an implant, in the Guide's rules for crowns.
- Complete and partial dentures supported by implants, in its rules for dentures.
- Bone grafts, a separate item on the exclusions list, whatever the graft is for.
What can the plan cover to replace missing teeth?
The plan can cover removable dentures that are not supported by implants, when a dental provider recommends them and the plan's conditions are met. That includes complete dentures, partial dentures and denture repairs. The plan, not the dental office, decides coverage for each patient, taking into account your oral health and medical conditions.
Bridges are not an alternative under the plan. The Guide lists bridges and all bridge-related procedures as exclusions, alongside implants.
- A standard complete denture does not need pre-approval and can be covered once per arch, upper or lower, in any 96 months (8 years), subject to the plan's other conditions, which our CDCP dentures page sets out.
- A first partial denture always needs pre-approval, and the plan sets conditions on which teeth must be missing before it will consider one.
Can you still choose an implant?
Yes, if your dentist proposes one. The Government of Canada says you may go ahead with a service your provider proposes even when the plan does not cover it, and pay the provider directly.
The plan pays dental providers only, never patients, so it will not pay you back for an implant you pay for yourself.
Before any treatment, ask what the plan will not cover and what you will have to pay. Under the plan's billing agreement, the dental office is expected to go over this with you before you agree to care.