Director of Allied Health at Te Whatu Ora Pip Zammit did not answer the question directly and instead said there are still some children who have not yet been seen for their dental examination and this delay is due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19, as well as a shortage of dental/oral therapists across New Zealand.
Zammit wouldn’t say how many children in Northland had missed out on their annual check-up.
However, she said Te Whatu Ora has identified this national workforce shortage as a priority for action and is investigating how it may be grown to enable oral health teams to provide care sooner.
Concerned parent Shayna Rusbridge from Dargaville said she hadn’t heard from the oral health service provider in three years regarding any of her children, ages 3, 5 and 10.
She said she ended up contacting them herself at the beginning of this year but it was a nine-month wait to get an appointment.
“I called 0800 My Teeth in January this year before school started and was told to call back in the school term, which I did, but then I was told there were no appointments available and was asked if I could travel to Whangārei instead, but I hardly ever travel there. So, I called them back in May but they couldn’t see us until August.
She then said it wasn’t until September that they could be seen for the actual treatment required, nine months after first making contact.
Rusbridge believed that the inconsistencies and delays with dental care resulted in the need for her children to require treatment.
Ashleigh McGinlay said her youngest son turns 3 in January and her eldest son is 10. In relation to her youngest child she said, “I haven’t heard anything from them whatsoever, nothing in three years.”
“I got a form to enrol him when he was born. So I know he’s enrolled.”
She said her eldest child has been seen however by the dental school bus.
Another concerned parent Christy Shreurs has a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old, she says she’s never been contacted by the oral health service either.
“I’ve never been contacted, I’ve always had to ring 0800 My Teeth. And even when they are in the system, I’ve never been phoned, I know they are supposed to be seen yearly but I’ve had to organise that myself.”
“And my most recent experience was in November, when I rang 0800 My Teeth and was told there weren’t any appointments and to, “call again closer to Christmas,” Like I thought that was close to Christmas, but - I was told that emergency dental is always available.”
Whangārei mum Stephanie Barnes told the Advocate her son was 3 years old and she too has never been contacted by them to have his annual checkup done. She’s considering enrolling him privately instead now.
Dargaville parent Lisa Forrest however said she was contacted by the oral health service for her almost 3-year-old daughter at around age 1, but hasn’t heard from them since.
Zammit said there is significant work underway to build the oral health workforce in Te Tai Tokerau, including the addition of six new oral health therapy graduates in 2024.
“One initiative is the undergraduate oral health therapy programme that is delivered in Northland to train more clinicians locally. This training is provided by the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and we currently have nine students on the programme and 10 new students beginning next year.”
“Furthermore, we are actively recruiting dental and oral health therapists to work in all areas of Te Tai Tokerau, with children and adolescents, as well as adults.
There are opportunities for new graduates as well as experienced New Zealand or Australia-registered dental or oral health therapists, and clinicians based overseas with an international-equivalent qualification.”
“We encourage parents to make contact with us on 0800 MY TEETH (0800 698 3384) if their child is in pain or overdue for an examination. Children can also be enrolled with the Te Whatu Ora Oral Health Service and appointments can be booked at northlanddhb.org.nz.”
