The FrankAdvice report, for Dental for All, paints a grim picture: our failure to provide affordable dental care is not only cruel to individuals but also shockingly costly for all of us.
Many adults avoid seeing a dentist because of the cost: about 44% delay care or forgo it. Around a quarter of adults rate their oral health as “bad”. These figures aren’t just statistics; they represent hundreds of thousands of people living with untreated decay, broken teeth, gum disease, infections – conditions that often escalate and lead to worse health problems.
The report also finds that New Zealand suffers more than $6.2 billion a year in social costs from pain, loss of self-esteem, and diminished quality of life. Loss of productivity – people in pain, unable to eat, missing work – is another massive drain. Sick days because of dental issues cost about $206 million a year. Including broader economic losses, that figure swells into the billions.
Avoidable hospitalisations cost $37m a year, plus millions more in specialist/emergency dental care, and tens of millions associated with medical costs tied to poor oral health – such as heart disease linked to gum disease. And those hospitalisations take resources that could be used to treat others.
I have relatives who couldn’t get work in hospitality or other customer-facing jobs because of their teeth. Employers worried about appearance, customers judged unfairly, opportunities closed off before they even had a chance. It wasn’t about skills or work ethic – they just can’t afford a dentist. That’s the brutal truth: in New Zealand today, unaffordable dental care can cost you a job.
And there’s a moral argument. Why should the ability to eat, smile, and sleep without pain depend on what’s left in your bank account? We don’t tell people with broken arms to calculate whether they can afford a plaster cast. Why do we tell people in dental agony to either pay up or suffer? Oral health is health.
The truth is that by failing to act earlier, we’re paying more later, both in dollars and in lost human potential.
Most Kiwis already agree on the solution. A poll last year found 74% of people support bringing adult dental care into the public health system. That’s not a fringe view; it’s an overwhelming public consensus that oral health should be treated as health, no different from broken bones or infections.
The FrankAdvice report found that prevention and early treatment would save money almost immediately. A small filling caught early is far cheaper than a hospital stay fighting a spreading infection. Regular cleanings reduce gum disease and cut the risk of related health problems like heart disease. Hospital admissions for dental emergencies – currently tens of millions annually – would decline. The result: lower pressure on our most expensive parts of the health system, and fewer people in agony.
Better oral health also means better lives: fewer sick days, fewer missed work opportunities, greater confidence, and less stigma. The “100 Healthy Smiles” pilot in Waikato showed free dental care for low-income adults helped some people to leave benefit dependency altogether – improving lives and saving taxpayer dollars. The pilot scheme showed a 170% return on its costs.
To their credit, at the last election Labour promised to extend free dental care to everyone under 30. It was a welcome step. But it’s not enough. Disease doesn’t stop at 30, and limiting care by age still leaves out huge numbers of adults with the greatest unmet need.
If we are serious about reducing pain, preventing illness, and saving taxpayer money, the policy must go further – to all adults, with broader scope and better access.
Some will say universal dental care would be too expensive. But the truth is that we’re already paying more – just in hidden ways. We can keep paying those costs – or invest in a system that gives everyone access to the care they need. Labour’s under-30 plan is a start, but it should be just that: a first step.
Universal access to dental care isn’t a luxury; it’s a smart, humane investment. Every dollar spent now saves many more later. And with more than seven in 10 New Zealanders already backing it, the public is ready.
