Inuvik’s mayor says new dentist could be on the way
After more than a year without a dentist, Inuvik is now on track to welcome a resident dentist by late fall.
During a recent council meeting, Mayor Peter Clarkson said one potential dentist is soon expected to visit the Northwest Territories community to explore housing options.
Inuvik’s only dental clinic, the Western Arctic Dental Group, has been closed since May 2024 – though residents were raising concerns about growing gaps in service long before that.
Without a dentist living in the town, residents must travel elsewhere – normally to Yellowknife – for dental care. That journey isn’t always straightforward.
Earlier this year, for example, the N.W.T. government advised people to postpone non-urgent dental visits to Yellowknife, unless they had already secured a place to stay, due to “extremely limited” accommodation in the city.
The GNWT has accused Indigenous Services Canada – the federal body responsible for delivering services, including health benefits, to First Nations and Inuit people – of underfunding the territory under Ottawa’s Non-Insured Health Benefits program, causing some of the trouble in attracting and retaining dentists.
Last week, Clarkson acknowledged the urgent need for local dental services, noting the strain placed on families who have had to travel long distances for basic treatment.
“All those of you who have gone out yourself on your own dime, or accompanied kids, that’ll be a relief to everyone. Plus it’ll be a relief on trying to fly out of here,” he said in the meeting.
“The number of medical and dental people going out from the Beaufort Delta and then other areas outside of Yellowknife [is] keeping all the hotels in Yellowknife filled, but the inconvenience for everybody else in the territory is huge.”
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Increase in dental travel to Yellowknife likely to continue: N.W.T. health minister, CBC News
Sweden: Over twelve hour trip to fix toothache as dentist shortage hits northern Sweden, Radio Sweden
