Photo: Cedric Fauntleroy
Forty per cent of New Zealand adults can't afford dental care, according to a report last year.
Hawke's Bay dentist Dr Kris Sweetapple says it's time Aotearoa gave oral healthcare the value and funding that it deserves.
A combination of prohibitive cost and fear means many Kiwis only visit a dentist when an issue forces them to, he tells Nights.
"I think there are a lot of ways we can bring oral health back into general healthcare and not leave it to one side where a lot of people struggle to access it because it's predominantly privatised in New Zealand."
For some reason, dental care has been sidelined in Aotearoa, says the 29-year-old, yet there are a number of links between oral health and general health.
"If you've got active infection and inflammation going on, that can impact your general health from your heart to diabetes, for example."
Currently, the New Zealand government doesn't subsidise dental care for people over 18.
Dr Kris Sweetapple - NZ Young Dentist of the Year 2023 Photo: Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons
Targetted funding for oral healthcare – such as raising the age of access to free care to 25 – would enable dentistry to be more preventative and less of a "last resort", Dr Sweetapple says.
High costs associated with dentistry, including human resources, sterilisation and equipment, wouldn't be the only challenge in achieving the Green Party's promise to make dental care free for all New Zealanders., Dr Sweetapple says.
Currently, we don't have enough dentists or oral health specialists (formerly dental nurses) to fill new jobs.
Although the study of dentistry is reasonably popular, he says, there are limited spots and just one place to train – the University of Otago.
"Similar to doctors and GPS, it can be quite challenging to get in and see the dentist. We'd love to have more dentists out there."
When it comes to dentistphobia, "construction of the mouth", as Dr Sweetapple calls it, is a lot more comfortable now than in decades past.
"A lot of people are really surprised and impressed with how things that are reasonably invasive can go fairly smoothly."
Dr Kris Sweetaple works part-time in private practice and is the Clinical Director of Dental Services at Hawke's Bay Hospital.
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