Joanna’s story

Female, age 38 (picture with son)

I don’t have any insurance but have a brother-in-law in Cranbrook who’s a dentist so we go every few years. My husband’s a University of BC student and we have four kids. We have the kids’ teeth cleaned and checked up every few years. I used to have insurance when I worked and now I don’t. It would be helpful to have dental services covered.

Sally’s story

Female, age 29

My story is horrible. I couldn’t get the help I needed and it kept getting worse and worse. It affected my blood because of infections. University of BC dental took so long that it got worse. Each appointment is 3 hours. They fired me because they couldn’t help me anymore. The pain and suffering made me suicidal. Every time I think about it I want to cry. I makes me so depressed. My teeth were so bad before my University of BC student coverage that many things were not covered with the insurance. So I went to see a dentist and paid for it from my student loan. Basically by the time you fix your teeth you don’t have money to eat.

Jari’s story

Brown male, age 17

Right now I have dental insurance from AMS and my mom’s employer.  Together they can cover all the dental work I need to get done. So every Saturday I’ve been going to get my fillings done, and get preventive work and cleanings.  But before I didn’t have any dental coverage so for about 8 years I put it off!

David L’s story

With the AMS coverage I’ve been able to go to the dentist at least once a year.  I didn’t have dental coverage before I was at UBC though, so I would always go back to Taiwan to see my dentist – it was cheaper and faster back there.

Deb’s story

Female, age 43

Continuous care is key to dental health.  I have my teeth cleaned and checked every five years in my adulthood.  I’m 43.  I haven’t had continuous extended medical.  When I do see a professional dentist and hygienist, I learn so much about my health and how I need to take better care of myself to maintain dental health.  Don’t let people go years (10-20) then pull their teeth out at age 40! Let professionals show the way.

Heathcliff Campbell’s story

Canadian transgender, age 47

I lost almost all of my back teeth.  One of my problems is that the prescription meds I take have the side effect of dry mouth.  They’re willing to cover the cost of my drugs, but not the cost of anything for my dry mouth or to prevent my teeth from decaying.  They’re even cutting down check ups from every 6 months to only once a year.

Jamie’s story

Female, age 24

I’m a student nurse at Vancouver Native Health.  One of the biggest problems we see is that a lot of clients, especially if they have HIV/AIDS, are unable to eat their food because they don’t have their teeth.  We provide food, food to take with medications, but some people can’t take them because they don’t have teeth.

Kevin Yake’s story

Age 47

I used to open beers with my teeth, you know back when I was 17.  That’s how they started to get chipped.  I was in jail before and they tried to fix my teeth there but they didn’t do a good job.  So, I started taking methadone 3 years ago and since then I’ve had really bad gum disease, teeth falling out left and right.  It really has affected my personality, my self-confidence.  Before, I used to smile a lot.

James’ story

Age 41

I used to have a really good plan [for dental] through my job at the brewery.  Before they closed it down, they said ‘go and get all your dental done.’  So I went to the practice to see the dentist, but they made me see one of the new dentists and first before they started to work on me they looked at my insurance chart.  They only did up to the maximum of my insurance. It was 2 teeth, I was sitting in the chair for 5 hours, but they only did superficial work.  That was in ‘95.  Now I just have a lot of teeth crumbling.

Richard Dean Wilson’s story

Caucasian male
I have dental coverage because I’m on disability for life.  I just went to see Dr. Lee on Main Street and he got me a new set on false teeth.  I lost my teeth when I was younger, I used to drink and when we were drinking we would always be fighting.