From CBC News Canada – May 26, 2011
A lack of dental care facilities in Nunavut may be painful not just for Inuit who live there, but also for the federal government, which spends millions of dollars to transport patients to other places for treatment.
In the last fiscal year, Ottawa spent $2.6 million for travel costs to fly Nunavut dental
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patients and their escorts to other locations for dental procedures.
The travel costs were in addition to $8 million spent on the actual treatment, which included oral surgery and orthodontic care.
A recent Health Canada survey suggests that 70 per cent of Inuit need immediate dental care, but only 49.8 per cent had visited a dental care provider, compared to 74.5 per cent of southern Canadians.
