Which dental expenses can I claim on my return?
Certain dental expenses are included in the CRA’s list of eligible medical expenses that can be claimed on your tax return. You can claim eligible expenses from any 12-month period that ends in the year of your return, as long as you haven’t already claimed them.
According to the CRA, eligible expenses include:
Dental services paid to a medical practitioner
Dentures and dental implants (no certification or prescription required)
Orthodontic work paid to a medical practitioner or dentist
Premiums paid to private dental plans, if at least 90% of the premiums were paid for eligible medical expenses
Expenses for purely cosmetic procedures aren’t eligible.
For the 2025, you can claim your total amount of eligible medical expenses minus the lesser of $2,834 or 3% of your net income. You don’t need to have been reimbursed for these expenses, and neither does anyone else. It’s also fine if someone else was reimbursed, as long as it was counted in their income and not deducted on their return.
Enter your dental expenses into TurboTax the same way you’d enter other medical expenses. Before beginning, make sure you've entered all your income info—TurboTax will use these details to automatically calculate the minimum medical expenses you need to enter and determine your eligibility for a deduction.
TurboTax Online
Answer the initial Personal info and Tax profile interview questions if you haven't already. This unlocks 2025 tax return in the left menu.
From 2025 tax return in the left menu, under Add to your return, enter medical and select Medical expenses.
On the Your Medical Profile screen, select all boxes that apply, then continue.
On the Medical Expenses screen:
TurboTax will display the minimum amount of eligible medical expenses required to generate a tax benefit.
If your eligible medical expenses are less than the minimum amount displayed by TurboTax:
Select Done, as there aren't enough expenses to generate a tax credit.
Otherwise, select Enter New Medical Expense.
When entering receipts individually
On the Medical Expenses screen:
Select + Add Medical Receipt.
Fill out the Medical Expenses Receipt form.
Select Enter New Medical Expense, repeating this step until all receipts are entered.
On the Medical Expense Summary screen, review your expenses and select Done With Medical Expenses.
On the Medical Expense Claim screen, select Yes and continue.
When entering a single entry of the total amount of medical receipts
On the Medical Expenses screen, under Enter Medical Expenses Total Amount, enter the total amount of the medical receipts and continue.
On the Medical Expense Summary screen, review your expenses and select Done With Medical Expenses.
On the Medical Expense Claim screen, for Do you want to claim the medical expenses? select Yes and continue.
TurboTax Desktop
In Forms view
Input eligible receipts, either individually or in a single amount, directly in the Medical Expense form, and then complete either (or both) the:
Dependent Information worksheet
Medical Expense worksheet
In EasyStep view
Select Find from the TurboTax menu, enter medical, select Medical expenses profile, then Go.
On the Your medical profile screen, select all the boxes that apply, then continue.
On the Medical expenses screen, select Enter Expenses.
On the next screen:
TurboTax will display the minimum amount of eligible medical expenses required to generate a tax benefit.
If the eligible medical expenses are less than the minimum amount displayed by TurboTax, select Done, as there aren't enough expenses to generate a tax credit.
Otherwise, select Enter Expenses on return, and prepare to enter your expenses
When entering receipts individually
On the Medical Expenses screen, fill out the info, then select Enter Expenses on return, repeating this step until all receipts are entered.
Select Done.
When entering a single entry of the total amount of medical receipts
On the Medical Expenses screen, fill out the form once by entering the total amount of the medical receipts.
Select Done.
On the Medical expense summary screen, review your info, and if more needs to be added, repeat the above steps.
Once completed, select Done With Medical Expenses.
