Healthy Smiles Ontario gives free dental care to children and youth 17 and under from low-income households: check automatic enrolment first, then enrol online or by mail to Oshawa.
Applies in: Ontario
Check automatic enrolment first — many families do not need to apply at all. Children are automatically enrolled in Healthy Smiles Ontario if they receive assistance under Temporary Care Assistance or Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities, or if they or their family receive Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support. If your child is not automatically enrolled, enrol online through the Ontario dental care page or by mail with the General Application Form to Healthy Smiles Ontario in Oshawa.
Healthy Smiles Ontario is a government-funded dental program that provides free preventive, routine, and emergency dental services for children and youth 17 years old and under from low-income households. It covers regular visits to a licensed dental provider, including check-ups, cleaning, fillings, x-rays, scaling, tooth extraction, and urgent or emergency dental care, including treatment of a child's toothache or tooth pain. Cosmetic dentistry, including teeth whitening and braces, is not covered.
Children are automatically enrolled if:
There is one exception. If you receive Ontario Works and live in a First Nations community, your children are not automatically enrolled. Apply by mail to enrol them, using the Ontario Works First Nations Verification Form, mailed to Healthy Smiles Ontario, Station P, PO Box 2286, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3J8.
If your child is automatically enrolled, do not file a separate application.
You can apply for your children if they:
The income limits, as of July 1, 2026, use family net income:
| Dependent children in your household | Family net income |
|---|---|
| 1 child | $29,065 or lower |
| 2 children | $31,265 or lower |
| 3 children | $33,465 or lower |
| 4 children | $35,665 or lower |
| 5 children | $37,865 or lower |
| 6 children | $40,065 or lower |
| 7 children | $42,265 or lower |
| 8 children | $44,465 or lower |
| 9 children | $46,665 or lower |
| 10 or more children | $48,865 or lower |
For more than ten children, add $2,200 for each additional dependent child to work out the income level at which your family would qualify.
Complete the online application from the Ontario dental care page. Before you begin, you need:
If you have a spouse or common-law partner, they must be with you to complete the online application. Enter your electronic signatures at the end of the application and provide your email address — if you have a spouse or common-law partner, their email address must be different from yours. You can manage your application with a ServiceOntario Account, which lets you complete transactions, stay up to date with your government products and services, and check your transaction history.
To apply by mail:
If you do not have a Social Insurance Number or did not file your taxes last year, you can still apply annually by mail using a guarantor — one per household — and completing the Application Through Guarantor Form. The guarantor must be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 years of age, and able to confirm the child's identity, age, and Ontario residency. The guarantor must be a practising member in good standing with a provincial regulatory body, such as a doctor, nurse, dentist, teacher, lawyer, or police officer. Mail that form to the same Oshawa address.
Once your child's enrolment is confirmed, you will get a Healthy Smiles Ontario dental card in the mail. You must present your card to your dental provider at each visit to receive services under the program.
Coverage runs for up to one benefit year — August 1 of the current year to July 31 of the following year — or up to the child's 18th birthday. If your child turns 18 during the benefit year, they are no longer eligible. Children in the program for emergency or essential care are covered for 6 months from the date of enrolment and must re-enrol after 6 months.
To find a participating dentist, ask your dentist's office whether it participates in Healthy Smiles Ontario. If you do not have a dentist, your local public health unit can help you find one. Even if your child already has dental insurance coverage, they may still be eligible — apply in the same way, and you may be asked for your insurance information at the dental provider.
For emergency dental care, you must have a clinical need and be able to show financial hardship. Contact your dentist's office or your local public health unit to find out if they participate. Children receiving emergency or essential care are covered for 6 months from enrolment and must re-apply at the end of 6 months to determine if they are still eligible. Each child can enrol in the Essential Services Stream a maximum of 3 times in their lifetime.
If you have questions, need to update your account information, or need to replace a dental card, contact the ServiceOntario INFOline toll free at 1-844-296-6306 (toll-free TTY 1-800-387-5559, TTY 416-327-4282). Your local public health unit can also help you apply or find a dental provider.
How you update your information depends on who you are:
If you want another person to be able to speak on your behalf about your account, such as a friend or sponsor, complete and submit an Authorizing or Cancelling a Representative Form to the same Oshawa address.
One warning from the Ontario page: Healthy Smiles Ontario contacts families by phone or mail and does not send invoices. If you get an email with an attachment and you have not applied online or contacted the program recently, do not open the attachment or click on links in the email — contact the program using the INFOline number above to check whether the message is real.
Healthy Smiles Ontario is an Ontario program for children and youth 17 and under from low-income households. The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) is a separate federal program with its own eligibility rules, income limits, and application route. A child can be in one program without being in the other, and enrolment in one does not enrol you in the other. This guide does not re-walk the CDCP — the federal steps are in our How to Start Getting Dental Care Covered in Canada guide.
The opened Ontario page does not state a processing time for an online or mail application, so this guide states none. It also does not publish the online application's web address as a separate link — the online application is reached from the Ontario dental care page cited below. This guide gives no dental or medical advice — that is for your dental provider and your local public health unit.
No. Children are automatically enrolled if they receive assistance under Temporary Care Assistance or Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities, or if they or their family receive Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support. The one exception is Ontario Works recipients living in a First Nations community — those children are not automatically enrolled and you must apply by mail.
Complete the online application from the [Ontario dental care page](https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-dental-care). Before you start you need your children's dates of birth, a valid Ontario address, your Social Insurance Number or Temporary Taxation Number, and to have filed your taxes in the previous year. If you have a spouse or common-law partner, they must be with you to complete it, and their email address must be different from yours. You can manage the application with a ServiceOntario Account.
Download, print and complete the General Application Form, then mail it to Healthy Smiles Ontario, 33 King Street West, PO Box 645, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 8X1. You can also get a form from your local public health unit or at a ServiceOntario location.
As of July 1, 2026, your family net income must be at or below $29,065 for one dependent child, $31,265 for two, $33,465 for three, $35,665 for four, $37,865 for five, $40,065 for six, $42,265 for seven, $44,465 for eight, $46,665 for nine, and $48,865 for ten or more children — add $2,200 for each additional dependent child beyond ten.
Once enrolled, your child is covered for up to one benefit year, August 1 of the current year to July 31 of the following year, or up to their 18th birthday. If your child turns 18 during the benefit year, they are no longer eligible. Children in the program for emergency or essential care are covered for 6 months from enrolment and must re-enrol after 6 months.
No. Healthy Smiles Ontario is an Ontario program for children and youth 17 and under from low-income households. The Canadian Dental Care Plan is a separate federal program with its own eligibility rules and application. See our [How to Start Getting Dental Care Covered in Canada](/guides/how-to-start-getting-dental-care-covered-in-canada/) guide for the federal plan — this guide does not re-walk it.