Photo: MICROGEN IMAGES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Today Nine to Noon looks at the way free dental care is provided to under-18s in New Zealand, amid concerns it's failing to keep up with greater needs and spiralling treatment costs.
Children under the age of 18 are entitled to receive free standard dental care, with dentists who enter into a Combined Dental Agreement funded between $130 and $220 per patient.
Costs for any additional treatments are also fixed. But some dentists say a new three-year contract which came into force on July 1st - even with an uplift in funding - doesn't reflect the reality of the complex treatments they're actually providing.
Kathryn discusses how the funding model works with Dr Katie Ayres of the New Zealand Dental Association and why practices are forced to cover the shortfall through their private patients with Christchurch dentist Sam Brady.
