New dentist fills the gap

The doors at Absolute Dental have been open for only a month but dentists Shash Patel and Shabana Gulati are already in hot demand.
They have been flooded with calls for help from 60 patients a week needing help for toothache and general check ups.
On average they see 12 patients a day, which is typical of most dentists.
Mr Patel has taken over the Old Taupo Rd dental surgery left vacant by the death of dentist Roger Simons. Mike Pinfold operated a practice from the surgery a half-day every week but he closed its doors a few months ago.
Mr Patel has taken on many of their patients as well as others frustrated by the lengthy wait they have experienced waiting for a dentist elsewhere.
Like most towns and cities across New Zealand, Rotorua is suffering a dentist shortage.
Mr Simons is one of two dentists who have died in the past year and another two have left town - leaving 15 private dentists. There is also a community dentist at Tipu Ora and another supporting school dental services.
The shortage has led to an average waiting time for appointments of four to six weeks for secondary school students and adults.
Even in an emergency, people are not seen immediately and there is no guarantee of being seen within a few days. Some people are referred to Tauranga and Taupo for faster treatment.
Absolute Dental is the third dental practice set up by Mr Patel in a high needs area. He also owns practices in Tokoroa and Kawerau.
By reopening the doors, he said he was "lightening the load" for other Rotorua dentists. But he stressed his practice would not completely fill the gap.
"At the end of the day the public has to appreciate this is not the sort of profession you can push people through. All the dentists are working as hard as they can."
Unlike most dentists, he has not reached the point of operating a patient waiting list. To ensure he keeps up with the growing demand, he plans to employ another dental assistant in a few weeks. "An advantage of having practices in other areas is that if we get full and someone needs urgent care, we can refer patients on to Kawerau or Tokoroa. That's a last resort but for some it's better than waiting for treatment in pain."
He said the dentist shortage was nationwide and typical of most medical professions.
Many students graduating from Otago University's dental school left for work overseas where they were better paid. That meant vacancies across New Zealand were left unfilled.
"If you have a big student loan you can get it paid off much quicker in Australia or the United Kingdom."
Mr Patel, an Otago graduate, said many people avoided a dentist until they were in pain but he said one of the best ways to avoid toothache was to get annual checks.
"Dental pain is a poor indicator of dental problems. It's the routine checkups and x-rays that pick up things before they develop into problems which cause decay and toothache."