New Zealand's dental healthcare system needs change. We see adult dental health care as a neglected health policy issue and here, I summarise how I see our ideas for improving the system. On the other hand, the Government spends about a quarter of a billion dollars a year on dental care, but New Zealanders spend upwards of five times that amount in private dental health care. Many people miss out on preventive dental care and population-level prevention represents a very small component of the public dental healthcare budget. Our first steps towards the goal that all New Zealanders should be able to access affordable, comprehensive dental care should be population-level prevention and ensuring that disadvantaged groups can access emergency dental care.

Source: Otago Daily Times June 03, 2019 16:41 UTC