Free service filling dental hole in Kaikohe

Trainee technician Kyla Zielinski, 17, and dentist Jiman Han work on a patient in a mobile clinic providing free dental treatment in Kaikohe. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A free dental service has been flooded with three weeks' worth of appointments within a day of opening in a Northland town without a dentist for almost 18 months.

One of the first patients at the Smilecare mobile clinic on Kaikohe's main street, which opened at 1pm on Tuesday, needed to have eight rotten teeth pulled, while 60 per cent of the first 100 bookings have been assessed as being at the top of the pain scale.

It's a sign of how dire the need is in Kaikohe — where many struggled to pay for dental care even when it was available — and other areas of the North.

The month-long free service is an initiative by high-profile Auckland dentist Scott Waghorn, who is of Ngāpuhi descent and owns Smilecare and Henderson-based Dentalcare West.

Dental caravans have been set up on Broadway, Kaikohe, and at Mokonuiarangi Marae in Horeke.

By the end of Wednesday, the first full day, the service was fully booked for the next three weeks, general manager Doug Healey said.

''Scott [Waghorn] is from Matauri Bay. He's always wanted to come home, it's been his dream to come home and serve his people by providing a free service.''

Patients were prioritised by need but there were no other criteria.

''You don't need a Community Services Card, you don't need whakapapa. There's no agenda. If you're in pain we can help.''

Smilecare Northland general manager Doug Healey. Photo / Peter de Graaf

The Kaikohe site had one dentist, one hygienist and one technician. Two young Kaikohe women had been employed to train as dental technicians; a receptionist and an operations manager had also been hired locally.

Healey said the service was not a one-off. Equipment had been bought for a permanent clinic and he was looking for premises.

After a month it was likely the service would switch to a koha system where patients paid what they could afford.

Once a permanent Kaikohe clinic was up and running the service would expand to other sites around Northland.

Dentist Scott Ariki Waghorn. Photo / Supplied

Healey said the response so far had been ''off the chart'' with everyone from 3-year-old children to 80-year-old kaumātua and kuia seen.

With no private dental service in Kaikohe for 16 months some had been waiting months to see a dentist in Kerikeri or Whangārei.

It wasn't just the cost of dentistry that stopped people seeking help — driving to another town for treatment also meant giving up a day's work for many people.

''And you can't blame Covid. This situation existed before Covid,'' he said.

Waghorn was funding the initiative out of his own pocket for now. Despite that Healey said the longer-term business model was ''totally viable''.

Dentist Jiman Han said the lack of a local dental service had led to a huge disparity between need and supply.

''So we're just really glad to get here and help. A lot of people have been putting off dental work because of the cost, and a lot of teeth which could have been saved can't be saved anymore, so the only option left is to extract. At least we can remove their pain.''

Trainee technician Kyla Zielinski, 17, and dentist Jiman Han work on a patient in a mobile clinic providing free dental treatment in Kaikohe. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Far North District councillor Moko Tepania said the need in his home town was huge.

He put up a social media post on Tuesday about the service, telling whānau there was no need to be scared or embarrassed, and within 24 hours he'd reached 5800 people.

''This is an awesome kaupapa for our community. I'm hoping it's the beginning of something, not a flash in the pan.''

The mobile clinic, parked at 116 Broadway, was less intimidating than a flash dental surgery in Kerikeri, and saved time and transport costs.

Tepania said Work and Income could cover dental expenses but many people had already ''maxed out'' the extra help available due to lost income during the lockdown.

Amanda Johnston, president of the Northland branch of the NZ Dental Association, said the Mid North was a busy area with not enough services for the population.

Kaikohe had not had a private clinic since the last dentist sold up in 2019 so the district health board was operating an oral health hub for children and adolescents. It also offered treatment for pain relief to people with Community Service Cards.

Anyone who wasn't eligible had to travel to Kerikeri or Whangārei instead.

Johnston hoped whichever Government was elected next month would provide extra help to deprived areas, and prioritise measures such as sugar reduction and fluoridation to help prevent decay in the first place.

''Prevention is the best way to go,'' she said.

A convoy of mobile dental clinics stuck at the Te Hana "border crossing" between Auckland and Northland last month. Photo / Te Ao Maori News

It's not the first time Waghorn has tried to set up a free service in Northland.

Last month, while Auckland was still in level 3 lockdown, his convoy of dental caravans was turned back at the Northland ''border'' for reasons which remain unclear.

Healey maintained that all Covid protocols had been followed and the paperwork was in order; Te Rūnanga-a-iwi o Ngāpuhi, the tribe's governing body, said it didn't know the convoy was coming and hadn't issued any instructions for it to turn back, though chief executive Sam Napia said it was the wrong time to bring the service up from Auckland.

Waghorn, who has been described as ''the Lance O'Sullivan of dentistry'' after the outspoken former Kaitaia GP and New Zealander of the Year, is standing for the Opportunities Party in Tai Tokerau in October's election.

Northland has some of the worst dental statistics in the country. A 2017 study found only 44 per cent of Northland kids made it to the age of 5 without a filling.