![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4JZF78C_AFP__20230628__HL_TDURAND_2098760__v1__HighRes__FraADentalPracticeUnCabinetDentaire_jpg.jpeg\")
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\nA campaign group says universal free dental care in Aotearoa is affordable.
\nPhoto: AFP\/ Thibaut Durand\/ Hans Lucas\n<\/p>\n
A campaign group has released a detailed plan which it says shows universal free dental care in Aotearoa is both feasible and affordable.<\/p>\n
The report by Dental for All estimates it would cost $936 million a year – alongside a one-off capital investment of $1.1 billion.<\/p>\n
Included in the costs would be 700 clinics across the country, funding for by M\u0101ori for M\u0101ori services<\/a>, as well as training and growing the workforce.<\/p>\n To do that, the report proposed expanding the number for training dentists<\/a> at the University of Otago and laid out a scheme to attract dentists and oral health therapists to the national network.<\/p>\n Dental for All campaigner Hana Pilkinton-Ching said the current approach to oral healthcare in Aotearoa was not working<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Nearly half of New Zealand adults can’t afford the care that they need<\/a>, so now it’s time to set out what the solutions to this could be.<\/p>\n “Our policy paper outlines a credible pathway to an oral health system which upholds Te Tiriti o Waitangi and ensures everyone can access the oral healthcare they need.”<\/p>\n Pilkinton-Ching said the costs in the paper fell below previous estimates of $1b to $2b annually and that it would also cost less than the current oral health model.<\/p>\n “We are actually already losing billions of dollars every year as a result of the flow on effects of poor oral health.”<\/p>\n Another Dental for All campaigner and researcher, Kayli Taylor, said the only reason dental was carved out of our public healthcare system was because lobbying by dentists in 1938.<\/p>\n “We’re not where we are for any good medical or policy reason,” she said.<\/p>\n It followed the recent release of a Talbot Mills Research survey, commissioned by Dental For All, that found 83 percent of people in New Zealand supported bringing dental into the public healthcare system<\/a>.<\/p>\n The report said the move had endorsement across the political spectrum – including 88 percent of Labour-voting participants and 78 percent of National voters.<\/p>\n “We want politicians to see that what the public wants is for them to actually show leadership and take the steps to make the right decision,” Pilkinton-Ching said.<\/p>\n