Free dental clinic eases pain for Elgin’s young mums

Some of the team providing free dental care in Elgin this week. From left, Anita Ngatu, Thelma Dingle, Julia Parker, Sheree Savage, Ron Flores, Mike Stephenson, Robbie Parker, Marnia Evans and Dallas Poi. Photo / Matai O'Connor

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Young mums in Elgin have been getting their dental pain relieved, thanks to free treatment from Trinity Koha Dental Clinic in partnership with Turanga Health.

Getting the clinic to Gisborne is the result of the Tairāwhiti Locality Prototype steering group working with Trinity Koha and health providers across Tairāwhiti.

A locality is a place-based approach to improving the health of populations, as well as a mechanism for organising health and social services to meet the needs identified by whānau, the community and mana whenua.

Turanga Health population health kaiwhakahaere Dallas Poi said they were the first to put up their hand for the roll-out.

“The focus for us was giving māmā access to a dental service to help with any issues they are facing,” Poi said.

Along with the dental clinic, Turanga Health used it as an opportunity to offer childhood immunisations and car seat checks.

Turanga Health is a well child provider and has over 2000 pēpi (babies) on its register.

“We ensure that the whānau have a great experience,” Poi said. “So far this week it has been busy with young māmā and pēpi coming through.”

The clinic was set up behind Manawaru Cafe - a space created by Turanga Health - in Elgin.

Poi said the need for dental care was “huge” but the cost meant it was not a priority for some people.

“So it has been a privilege to deliver these services to whānau.”

Trinity Koha Dental Clinic has visited the region twice before.

It has been up the East Coast and was based at Te Poho-o-Rāwiri Marae in Kaiti a couple of years ago.

From those experiences, it built a relationship with local health organisations.

One of the dental clinics that was based in Elgin this week. Photo / Matai O'Connor

Trinity Koha Dental Clinic’s Julia Parker said being able to deliver free dental care to young māmā was extremely important.

“Seeing young māmā come in who are dealing with pain and being able to relieve them from that is why we do this.”

The clinic started in 2019 after YWAM Ships Aotearoa (YSA) organised for Parker and her husband to travel on its ship from Tauranga to provide dental services in the Pacific Islands.

YSA, part of the global Christian movement Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is a charity that provides medical care to isolated Pacific communities. It travels to islands on a 48-metre German-built vessel repurposed as a medical ship and renamed M/V YWAM KOHA.

The advent of Covid-19 put paid to Julia and her husband going to the islands but a YSA board member had the idea of offering dental services in New Zealand instead.

Since then, they have been working across the North Island helping people with their dental needs.

All of the workers are volunteers.

“The dentists love being able to help those who need it,” Parker said.

“There are so many barriers to getting people to the dentist. They could be scared or money is an issue. By partnering with Turanga Health, we can open more doors for people. Seeing their smile after coming out of the dental clinic makes it all worth it.”

Tairawhiti Locality steering group has been working with Tairāwhiti Toitu Te Ora Iwi Māori Partnership Board (IMPB) for the benefit of whānau, hapū, iwi and community, and this clinic is one of the results of that.

Tairāwhiti Toitū Te Ora co-chair Tania Rauna said following the place-based approach, they would test its effectiveness with whānau to establish it as an ongoing service in the community.

“This service has been a long time coming and we are extremely grateful to the efforts of the Locality Steering Group, who through all of the changes and upheaval, have kept our whānau voice at the forefront and delivered on a dental service that will go out to our communities to deliver closer to home.”

The clinic will be in Ūawa Tolaga Bay at Hauiti Hauora from Tuesday to Thursday next week.

Matai O’Connor, Ngāti Porou, has been a journalist for five years and Kaupapa Māori reporter at the Gisborne Herald for two years