{"id":355046,"date":"2026-03-30T10:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T10:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/355046\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T10:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T10:50:08","slug":"new-zealanders-getting-costly-dental-work-overseas-business-owner-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/355046\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealanders getting costly dental work overseas, business owner says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"No<\/p>\n

\nA Waikato dental tours business owner says people are saving up to tens-of-thousands of dollars by getting their work done offshore.
\nPhoto: AFP\n<\/p>\n

A Waikato business owner who hosts dental tours to Vietnam says people are saving up to tens-of-thousands of dollars by getting their work done offshore.<\/p>\n

It comes as calls grow louder for oral care to be integrated into New Zealand’s public healthcare system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than 1000 New Zealanders took part in a recent Talbot Mills Research survey, commissioned by advocacy group Dental For All.<\/p>\n

Participants were asked whether they supported dental care being brought into the public healthcare system.<\/p>\n

In findings released on Monday, 83 percent of participants said they supported the move. Twelve percent opposed the move and 5 percent were unsure.<\/p>\n

Dental For All campaigner Hana Pilkinton-Ching said it would cost between $1-2b per year to integrate dental care into the public health system.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month Damien Nikora from The Current Place took his first group of seven people to Da Nang for treatments including crowns, implants and extractions.<\/p>\n

He started the tours after he paid $1700 for dental work in Vietnam, a procedure which was quoted for $22,000 in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Nikora told Checkpoint some dental procedures in New Zealand were too expensive.<\/p>\n

“It’s a nightmare. It’s basically a mortgage, it’s absolutely ridiculous,” he said.<\/p>\n

He said clients who had been quoted $90,000 for work in New Zealand, ended up paying $10,000 for the procedure in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

“They’re absolutely stoked, there’s plenty of tears,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They can’t believe they get to have a little holiday, get to deal with something that they’ve been traumatised or dealt since they were kids.<\/p>\n

“It’s pretty awesome, it’s a really cool buzz.”<\/p>\n

The cost of essential dental care in New Zealand was a barrier for people getting the work done, Nikora said.<\/p>\n

He said none of his 250-plus clients had reported any post-procedure problems over the past two years since starting the tours.<\/p>\n

The New Zealand Dental Association said complications were more likely to occur in patients who underwent complex treatment overseas, such as implants or crowns.<\/p>\n

Chief Executive Dr Mo Amso said anyone travelling overseas for dental tourism needed to make sure the clinic they were attending was reputable.<\/p>\n

Nikora said his tours usually ran for about 10 days and people were able to do online consultations before departing New Zealand.<\/p>\n

“They get to talk with the dentists themselves. It’s pretty thorough,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So the dentists know what to do with each client.”<\/p>\n

ACC does not cover medical procedures or treatments performed outside of New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Despite the lack of cover, Nikora felt it was worth the risk.<\/p>\n

“The people we’ve dealt with haven’t had any problems,” he said.<\/p>\n

“In the end what it comes down to is either never getting their teeth done here in New Zealand because they can never afford it.<\/p>\n

“If they get the opportunity to be able to do it professionally and affordably, they’re more than willing to take that chance.”<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Waikato dental tours business owner says people are saving up to tens-of-thousands of dollars by getting their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[48,138,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":["post-355046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-audio","tag-business","tag-current-affairs","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}