This question is for your Canadian readers over 65.

On May 1, the new Canadian Dental Plan for Seniors was SUPPOSED to become active, and the 65 to 69 cohort could apply.  I submitted my application, but my present dentist is indicating that he’s not going to participate.

I live walking distance from four dental clinics who are also not willing to participate.

I’m finding that established dental practices are not intending to participate, mainly because the paperwork involved is quite substantial and onerous.  The practices who are participating seem to be new practices trying to establish a patient base by any means available.

I have been with my present dentist for over 25 years and have no desire to change.  But why should I pay for services that are now supposed to be covered by the new Canadian Dental Plan?

Toothache

Research shows that this dental care plan has been in the making for several months already, and that different groups are eligible to apply at different times. It is also clear that participation is not mandatory. Why a dentist would or would not want to participate is multi-faceted, according to a few dentists with whom I spoke.

However, I am not a dentist, so I don’t have any skin in the game. My advice would be to speak with your dentist with whom you have a relationship – after all, this is a relationship advice column – and find out if this new dental plan will make a difference to your care, if your specific dental needs will benefit from this plan, and/or if your dentist and you can come up with a schedule that will be beneficial to you both.

Good luck!

FEEDBACK Regarding the young woman who disembarked drunk when visiting her aunt (April 22):

Reader – “I don’t disagree with your advice to the aunt, but I do take issue with your statement that women in their 20s shouldn’t travel alone.
“You have no evidence that anyone but the young woman herself was responsible for her being drunk. She might have spent the whole delay mentioned drinking in an airport bar, not necessarily with the guy who helped her off the plane. It isn’t necessarily being female and in her 20s that puts her at risk, it’s just as likely she’s always thoughtless and irresponsible.
“To suggest women in their 20s can’t get on a plane by themselves is to put ridiculous boundaries on people who may be travelling to study, for business, or to volunteer. Women should not be told they can’t do something purely because they’re women.  They should be aware of risks, they should not be irresponsible, but they must be free to live their lives fully.”

Lisi – My apologies. I’d like to clarify that when I wrote, “In my opinion, the world today is not safe for young women to travel alone, to walk alone at night, to stay alone in hotels or hostels,” I meant the word travel in the broader scope, not simply getting on an airplane. I’m not suggesting women in their 20s can’t get on a plane by themselves. And I am not saying any woman cannot do anything she wants.

But what I AM saying is that, in my opinion, right now, the world is not the safest place. Just recently a woman was pushed down the stairs of the subway by a passerby for no reason other than…… he could? Another woman was recently strangled because she was alone and an easier target as a result.

I’m a woman and I’ve travelled around the world but there are places I would never go alone, and there are places I wouldn’t travel right now that I would have ten years ago.

Why is it that my chores have morphed into all the “dirty” ones, like taking out the trash, doing the dishes, and cleaning the bathrooms? My partner gets all the easy chores!

Unfair share

You and your partner need to sit down with a pen and paper (old-school style) and make a list of EVERY SINGLE chore that comes up in your living arrangement. They differ from family to family, from home to home. Once your list is done, mark an E or something to show which ones you find vulgar, and have your partner do the same. If there’s one they hate but you don’t mind, take it on; and vice versa. Easy.

Now look at the ones you both abhor. Can you switch on and off, weekly or monthly? If you really hate it, could you outsource to a cleaning company twice a month, if affordable?

Work it through together.