Abscesses eroding facial bones, blood poisoning and even death.
Those are just some of the very real consequences of unaffordable dental care according to a Whangarei emergency department Doctor who is dealing with bad teeth on a daily basis.
Doctor Gary Payinda says everyday there's multiple people through the Emergency Department who can't afford to see a dentist and their condition's deteriorated to the point where their pain is unbearable, or is causing other serious illnesses.
And he says the social costs and the treatment of those complications is way more expensive than universal free dental care.
At the moment dental care's only free for under 18 year olds.
But if in goverment the Green Party is promising to change that, with free dental care for everyone at a cost of about $1.4 billion and funded through its proposed wealth tax.
Tom Taylor and cameraman Nick Monro ask people to open wide on the issue and Emergency Department doctor Gary Payinda describes the disasters he sees daily.
