Book excerpt: Filling a gap in the health policy literature, author and dental public health specialist Dr. Carlos Quiñonez explores the complexities surrounding Canada’s dental care system and policies, including how they came to be, their consequences, and what they mean for oral health and access to dental care. The Politics of Dental Care in Canada seeks to answer a long standing policy question in Canadian health care: Why is dental care excluded from Canada’s national system of health insurance, Medicare? The text presents a history of dentistry in Canada from the late 19th century onward, outlining how dentistry traversed a developing Canadian welfare state. Dr. Quiñonez explores factors that led to dentistry’s separation from larger movements in health care policy, including moral questions on individual versus social responsibility over health, scientific advances in the field, and prevailing economic uncertainty. Opening with a series introduction by Dr. Dennis Raphael, this vital text offers an extensive overview on how the politics of dental care contributes to inequalities and inequities in oral health. From discussing scientific and public health advances in dentistry to looking at the general nature of oral health care in Canada from an international perspective, this text serves as an important addition to the field of health policy and a foundational resource for courses in dentistry, health studies, and comparative health policy. FEATURES - Comprehensively discusses the current state of Canadian dental care policy, the history and factors that led to the policy, and the resulting outcomes and inequalities - Presents the latest available information on the epidemiology of oral diseases and conditions; the connection between oral health and systemic health; and the organization, financing, and delivery of oral health care in Canada and internationally