A Southland dentist says work is needed to attract professionals to the region.
In the run-up to the general election next month, the Labour and Green parties have promised vast changes to how New Zealanders can access dental care, although they have been met with dubious skepticism from political opponents and industry insiders.
While Labour has pledged to gradually introduce free dental care for people aged under 30, the Green Party has gone a step further by promising to make dental care free for all New Zealanders.
New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA) Southland Branch president Dr Jennifer Lee said there were several practices in the region already at full capacity and unable to take on new patients.
Any changes to the country’s dental policies following the election would likely lead to an increase in patient numbers.
"We are already close to full capacity with our current patient load and will need more dental professionals and clinics to support a huge surge that is likely to come."
Dr Lee said in the current system, wait times could vary from a few weeks to months, although emergency dentist rosters were available to look after patients who were in pain, so those without regular dentists could be seen.
Some of the major pressures facing the industry in Southland were getting professionals like dentists and oral health therapists moving to work in the region, and also retaining those staff long term, she said.
Dr Lee said she would like to see careers in dentistry promoted to secondary school pupils in Southland so more dentists could come back to the region.
"Scholarships or ways to incentivise dental graduates to come and work in provincial areas could encourage people to work in areas where there is a workforce shortage."
Earlier this month, NZDA president Amanda Johnston told RNZ she was delighted with Labour’s pledge, although the workforce was already stretched in rural and provincial areas.
"We’ll need to increase the workforce significantly," she said.
At present, dental care is free for New Zealand children until their 18th birthday.
Dr Johnston said dentists tended to treat adolescents in the community almost as a community service, often at a loss.
"So it’s not going to be sustainable to treat more of the population with that funding model."
