A mouth full of pain that never goes away.
That's how one beneficiary has described living with the ongoing suffering that comes with her dental problems - which are too expensive for her to fix.
She is one of thousands of people on a low-incomes getting MSD help to cover their dental costs.
Figures show Work and Income is paying out more than $20 million a year.
But more than half of that money is essentially loans that have to be paid back.
Ricardo Menendez March from Auckland Action Against Poverty joins Lisa Owen in the studio.
