When our family started down the well-worn path of getting braces for our daughter, we began by contacting Canada Life, the insurer, for preapproval, so we’d know for sure that the company would cover certain costs. No problem, Canada Life said. Just provide us with a detailed treatment plan including all associated dental codes for all the work to be done.

Dental codes? What dental codes?

Thus we learned what many foreign-service families already know: there are numeric codes for all kinds of dental work, and dentists and insurance companies use these codes to identify and specify treatment. Code 80601 is for “orthodontic observation – for tooth guidance (i.e., tooth position, eruption sequence…)”. Code 81131 is for an “appliance, maxillary, simple +L”. Code 92222 covers “two units of time (30 minutes)” for anesthesia. Alongside each code is a suggested fee, codifying not only the work, but also the amount that dentists might charge – and therefore, that insurers will cover – for the work.

Where would we get these Canada-specific dental codes? Our orthodontist in Taipei wouldn’t know them. We’d have to hunt them down ourselves.

Here are quick answers for those of you in this particular boat, starting with the most comprehensive solution:

Get the ODA guidebook

Your local Ontario library’s reference section could well have the most recent copy of the Ontario Dental Association’s (ODA) “ODA Suggested Fee Guide for General Practitioners”. It lists all the codes for all sorts of dental work, including orthodontics, so it’s probably your best resource. As it’s in the reference section, it can’t be checked out. And as it’s at the library – and you may be nowhere near home – you’ll most likely have trouble getting to it. Consider asking friends and family if they would be willing to go to the library to look up and convey to you the codes you think you need.

Let’s say you can’t get to the library and you can’t ask someone to do it for you. Next best bet: find a copy of the ODA fee guide online.

To be clear, the ODA doesn’t widely share the guide publicly. Aside from the copy at the library, the book’s only for ODA members – dentists and orthodontists – not the general public. We did ask the ODA if the organization would make an exception for us as foreign-service families and given our unique situation living abroad without access to Canada-based dental services and information. Since we can’t get to the library, would the ODA be willing to send us a copy? No dice, no guide for us.

Nonetheless, you can find a copy of the guide on the web. Use your preferred search engine and enter this search term: “ODA guide 2022”. You’ll probably find a link to the guide on a certain university website. Download that PDF! It seems highly likely that, given the ODA’s reluctance to share the guide publicly, that link may disappear at some point, so maybe take a break from reading this article and do it right now, just in case. Yes, it’s out of date, but it’s the most recent version we found that’s readily downloadable, and most of the codes are probably the same now as they were in 2022. The 2025 version is out there, too, but it seems you’ll need to join a certain group to get it. So the 2022 version may be easier to grab.

We also asked the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) if this national organization would be willing to share its code book with us. That’s a no, CDA said.

Other solutions

The “Healthy Smiles Ontario Schedule of Dental Services and Fees for Dentist Providers” lists many common dental codes, but only those covered through the Ontario government’s implementation of the relatively new federal dental plan for all Canadians. Codes for orthodontics, for example, are not included. Still, it seems to be the next best thing after the ODA guide – and unlike the ODA, the Ontario government likely has no problem sharing this information, so it probably won’t try to have it taken off the web.

FS and Facebook

Some FS and spouses have taken to sharing some of the more common codes among themselves on social media. Not every code, but many. Search your friendly neighbourhood FS- and FS-family-related Facebook groups to find them.

Details, details

Still can’t find the codes you need? Although the ODA and the CDA both left us high and dry with respect to sharing their fee guides, the ODA did give us some advice: Get as much detail as you can from your dentist overseas, and convey that info to Canada Life.

“It is the insurance carrier’s responsibility to convert the services provided to the codes

used in Ontario in order to process the claim,” the ODA said via email. “You may wish to contact the treating dentist and request for them to write a letter that includes detailed information related to the treatment provided. It would be important for the dentist to include a level of detail that is sufficient (e.g. location in the mouth, number of surfaces, material used, treatment time, etc.) for the insurance carrier to process the claim if the services are eligible under the dental plan contract.”

Does Canada Life really need us to provide dental codes?

All this would be much easier to manage if we knew one way or the other whether Canada Life needs us to provide the codes or not. Comments among foreign-service officers and families on FS-related Facebook groups indicate that while the insurer requests codes from some of us, the company doesn’t need the codes all the time. Judging from those comments, there’s neither rhyme nor reason for the insurer’s sometimes requiring codes, sometimes not.

We contacted Canada Life for clarity. No answer provided.

Some FS have found that by including as much detail as possible in their claims, they’ve managed to sidestep the need for codes. So again, if you can’t access the codes, be sure to provide details such as location in the mouth, number of surfaces, materials used, and time involved. That might do the job.

Other FS say they have never provided codes and have never had a problem.

We asked the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) for input. President Pam Isfield said the organization is aware of the issue and may raise it at the next round of negotiations with the National Joint Council.

Additional resources

Understanding Medical Claims Abroad: a Spouse’s Guide – Tips to help simplify the filing process and get reimbursed as quickly as possible.

Are we covered or not?

Just to cap the story of our personal situation, Canada Life approved the treatment plan – including codes – for our daughter’s orthodontics. We’re still waiting for actual reimbursement, of course, but that’s an issue for a separate article.