New Zealand Becoming A Toothless Nation

New Zealand First spokesperson for health Barbara Stewart is criticising the Government for not acting sooner to rescue our failing school dental service.

“It is outrageous that in a country like New Zealand, the number of children having dental surgery because their teeth are so decayed has quadrupled in the last ten years, with reports of children as young as four having up to eight teeth removed,” said Mrs Stewart.

“The Minister of Health has been alerted to this problem for some time and only now has she decided to ask District Health Boards to produce a report on the dental service in each region.

“This is another case where the Minister is fobbing off her responsibility to already pressured DHBs.

“Prevention is always better than cure and it is vital that the Minister provides the necessary leadership on this very important public health issue.

“We cannot risk New Zealand’s dental standards slipping into the third world,” said Mrs Stewart.

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