Half of Hawke's Bay's children are overdue for dental visits

Hawke's Bay children are facing a two year wait for community dental check ups, and some have been waiting since 2023.

A report from the Dental Association ranks Hawke's Bay at the bottom nationally for timely child dental care, with 52.4 percent of the region's children overdue to be seen.

Zeyin Li moved to Hawke's Bay recently, and when his two children were due for their routine dental check ups he tried to get them in for an appointment.

"I phoned the community dental number to try and enrol them, that's when they told me there is a two year wait. They said they are only seeing kids who were due two years ago," said Li.

Li said he was fortunate to be able to book a dental appointment through a private clinic, but is concerned for those who can't afford to.

"A two year wait is a long time and I'd be worried about problems with dental decay happening in my kids," he said.

Health New Zealand's group director of operations in Hawke's Bay, David Warrington, told RNZ that there was not a single waiting time that applied to all children in Hawke's Bay.

"However, we acknowledge there are delays for some routine appointments, and our dental hubs are currently working through children whose scheduled recall dates date back to 2023.

"Our mobile dental service is operating an 18-month circuit covering all schools up to Year 8 with an equity index of 1-4, with the aim of improving equitable access to care," he said.

In Bay of Plenty, Dr Rudi Johnson is the clinical director and principal dental officer for the community dental service.

Johnson, who is part of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, told RNZ that just like the rest of the health system, they were under huge pressure.

"All across the country, all the services have vacancies and they're hard to fill.

"It's tricky, but we've noticed that the longer kids wait for an assessment or treatment, then their needs are worse, or their needs are a lot higher. They've got more tooth decay that we're trying to treat," Johnson said.

She said community dental staff assessed children's oral health status and determine how often they needed to be seen, which could range from six to 18 months.

She said the current wait time in Bay of Plenty was about 19 months.

"In terms of trying to keep up with those recalls, it's pretty hard at the moment.

"We've got lots of issues out there, we've got staff vacancies everywhere and we've got minimal funding to run these foundation child services... it's not easy."

She said the East Coast was especially bad, with Te Tai Rāwhiti's vacancy rate for dentists up around 90 percent.

"We've got schools, kura, up along that East Coast who probably haven't been seen for a lot longer than two years.

"We need to figure out how we're going to staff those areas so that the kids in those areas, the tamariki can be seen."

And nationwide, Johnson feels the dental system was in the worst state she had seen.

"I'm not going to make excuses for Covid because it has been a number of years since then, but we just haven't been able to catch up.

"We carry on and we do our best but dental is always one of those forgotten services," Johnson said.

Another factor that's not helping, is the ageing dental workforce.

"Within the community oral health services across the country, we've got a workforce that is probably heading to quickly retirement."

Health New Zealand said dental and oral health therapist workforce shortages are an issue nationally, and Hawke's Bay has also been affected.

"These shortages have contributed to longer waits for routine appointments in the region.

"Improving access to oral health services in Hawke's Bay is a priority. We are reviewing how services are delivered across the region to make the best use of our dental hubs and mobile clinics, while also increasing workforce capacity. We have recently recruited two additional therapists who are expected to start early next year," Warrington said.

He said Health New Zealand recognised the frustration that delays caused for families and appreciated their patience while it worked to improve access.

Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds announced on Wednesday that funded places for domestic dental students at the University of Otago would increase from 60 to 72 per year, with two of the new places set aside for students from rural backgrounds, lifting their minimum from 10 to 12 per year.