I don't know what era that occured but at one time the "quantity" of dental service provided to Reg Force was also limited. I was reminded a few weeks ago when I chanced upon seeing someone in TV news coverage who I did phase training (Reg Force) with in Gagetown forty years ago. He is now the deputy chief of a police service, but before I recognized him, I was struck by the perfection of his teeth as he spoke during the press briefing. Back then, before we tied onions to our belts, I recall him getting very agitated about the refusal of the Gagetown Dental Det CO (a LCol) to do certain work because it was considered "cosmetic". To be honest, "some" of the work would have had a cosmetic outcome (his smile, back then, was so bad that it would make a 1940's Cockney street sweeper look like a Hollywood film star in comparison), but he was within the criteria of "free from pain and able to eat".
I was also refused certain service by the same dentist (I had a darkened tooth, the result of some 'mouth trauma' a decade earlier), with the same explanation of 'cosmetic'. Several years following, when I was in Germany, our unit dentist did the work (a crown). By coincidence, on the day I went in for the final fitting, my dentist (a Maj) was unexpectedly away so the CO filled in, it was the same LCol who had told me in Gagetown that I was not entitled to have that work done. Not only did he make a point of telling me that I was still not entitled, but he showed me his notation on my dental records of the previous refusal in Gagetown.
As I understand it, the CF dental spectrum of care is now tied to a dollar amount similar to a normal dental insurance plan.
