Oral Health

Community oral health service
Find information about free basic dental care for children and young people (aged 0-17)

Dental care for adolescents
Find a list of dental service clinics for adolescents from year 9 – 17 years

Community dental service clinics
Dental clinics for 0 - 12 years (Year 8)

Hospital dental care
Dental care is provided at the Dental Unit at Te Whatu Ora Taranaki for people who require a hospital setting

Frequently asked questions
Find the answers to frequently asked questions here

Emergency dental care for low income adult
Te Whatu Ora Taranaki funds a number of private dentists to provide emergency dental services

There is currently a nationwide shortage of dental and oral health therapists in New Zealand, and unfortunately this has also affected Taranaki. 

Although our Taranaki team is working hard and doing an amazing job across our region, our ability to cover all our Community Oral Health Dental Clinics is limited, therefore we do have children/tamariki on waitlists for check-ups and treatment.

We are concentrating on seeing the longest waiting children, along with the most urgent children who have pain and infections.

We want to reassure families/whānau waiting for oral health care that we can still help with your dental queries or concerns. Please contact your nearest clinic or phone 0800 TALK TEETH (0800 825 583).

In the meantime, we thank our community for being patient and ask you to continue being kind to our staff as we mitigate these issues and deliver the best healthcare possible for families/ whānau in Taranaki.

Last updated: Friday, April 30, 2021