The Green Party's election promise to make dental care free for all New Zealanders doesn't go far enough, one dental expert says.
The Greens yesterday pledged to make dental care free for all New Zealanders, with co-leader Marama Davidson calling it "a luxury few can afford".
The election policy would see the creation of the New Zealand Dental Service for community-based dental care. The service would provide free annual check-ups and cleanings and free dental care, such as fillings, sealants and tooth removals.
It would also see mobile dental vans, portable clinics, funding for community dental clinics, including on marae, as well as specialist care for people when they're in significant pain, require oral surgery or need complex treatment.
In 2020, a New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA) survey found the average routine dental check-up cost $74, with added x-rays raising the price to $98.
Fillings saw costs rising further still. The average cost for a large amalgam filling was $220, while for composite fillings, the average cost was $250.
More extensive work, such as dentures or a tooth implant, can run into the thousands.
NZDA chief executive Dr Mo Amso told Breakfast he welcomed the Greens' policy for "getting the conversation going", calling it "a long time coming".
"They have identified as well that there are other barriers to accessing dental care," he said.
"They're tackling the biggest barrier, which is cost. But they also, in their policy, recognise that there are other barriers such as rurality, where you live, that can significantly determine whether you can access dental care or not."
However, Amso said the policy doesn't go far enough to address long sought after public health initiatives around disease prevention, sugar reduction, water fluoridation in schools and other social barriers to accessing care.
He said there was an "undeniable link" between people's overall well-being and their oral health.
"There is a link between some of the non-communicable diseases — like diabetes, like heart disease, pregnancy complications. The worse your oral health is, the more complications you're likely to get."
It also impacts "your social well-being, how well you feel, how well you can connect", he said.
"Do you cover your teeth when you smile or do you actually have pearly whites that give you a confident smile? Can you get a job? As a policy, this is really going into making people smile — as the policy claims — but there are some issues that we would like to work on with the Green Party to make sure it is a sustainable policy long-term.
"We definitely think there could be other things that could be tweaked in the policy."
Amso was also critical of the party's promise to provide specialist care in an already overwhelmed hospital setting.
"Our dental services in hospitals provide specialist care for unwell people. They're absolutely burdened. We have 3000 children waiting for a GA in Auckland alone. We have 1000 adults — special needs adults — waiting to be seen by the hospitals.
"A policy that promises specialist care for well people in a hospital setting misses the opportunity of utilising existing dental clinics — whether general or specialist — right across the motu who are able to provide that specialist level of care."
Amso also questioned the policy's robustness in the face of future successive governments due to its reliance on a "contentious" wealth tax to pay for the services.
"What happens if a future government scraps it? Do we actually have a sustainable way of funding this Free Dental for All? I would like to say yes but when we're talking about a funding stream that is contentious, that's not generally widely accepted, one does begin to wonder, is this sustainable in the long term?
"We want change. We would love to see more people access dental care but we want to see that happen sustainably so we don't end up losing a great initiative that goes because we haven't got the funding for it."
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