Source: Radio New Zealand
In findings released on Monday, 83 percent of participants said they supported the move. Thibaut Durand / Hans Lucas via AFP
There is escalating support for dental care to be absorbed by New Zealand’s public health system and to be made free for adults, new research shows.
More than 1000 New Zealanders took part in a recent Talbot Mills Research survey, commissioned by advocacy group Dental For All.
Participants were asked whether they supported dental care being brought into the public healthcare system.
In findings released on Monday, 83 percent of participants said they supported the move.
Twelve percent opposed the move and 5 percent were unsure.
The report said the move was endorsed across the political spectrum, including 88 percent of Labour-voting participants supporting the move, alongside 78 percent of National-voting counterparts.
There was a similar level of support among other political allegiances (NZ First and Greens 82 percent, ACT 85 percent, Te Pāti Māori 80 percent).
Women (87 percent) were more likely to support a move than men (79 percent), the report said.
Dental for All campaigner Hana Pilkinton-Ching said the poll showed growing public momentum behind plugging the gap in the healthcare system that leaves out dental care.
“Dental is carved out of our public healthcare system because some dentists lobbied in 1938 to keep dental out,” she said.
“But more and more people in New Zealand recognise that our mouths are part of our bodies, oral health is health, and it makes no sense for our healthcare system to keep excluding dental.”
Dental care is free for children and teenagers under 18, but it is largely privatised for adults.
Essential dental care was subsidised for people on a low income or benefit. through Work and Income.
Ministry of Social Development data shows that in the March quarter of last year, just less than 30,000 dental grants were issued, worth a total of $22.2 million.
The survey also asked participants whether dental care should be free for adults, with 80 percent supportive and 15 percent opposed.
This included Labour voters 87 percent, Greens 85 percent, NZ First 81 percent, ACT 79 percent, National 76 percent and Te Pāti Māori 72 percent.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists’ policy research director Harriet Wild said a 2023 poll showed that 74 percent of people supported free dental care.
“This poll shows public support continues to build to bring dental into our public healthcare system,” she said.
“It makes human sense, it makes economic sense, and this polling confirms that the move would be an incredibly popular one among the wider voting public.”
A Frank Advice report released in late-2024 showed keeping dental out of the public healthcare system was costing the country $2.5 billion in lost productivity each year and $3.1b each year in reduced quality of life.
Dental for All was due to release a cost plan for an integrated oral health service for children and adults next month.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
