Thousands of Auckland children, many in serious pain, are waiting up to eight months for dental treatment and the situation is set to get worse.
An Auckland District Health Board report said about 200 children were added to the waiting list each month but only 150 were treated each month. Photo: 123rf.com
A report has revealed the dire state of children's dentistry in the region, with the public dental service labelled "vulnerable".
There were 2157 children on the public waiting list for the most serious work which is done by a specialist or under general anaesthetic, the report by Auckland District Health Board staff said.
But the waiting list was growing faster than the children could be treated because there were not enough theatres or dental staff.
About 200 children were added each month, but only 150 children were treated each month.
Dental Association president Katie Ayers said many of those children would be in a lot of discomfort.
"They may have...difficulty eating, difficulty sleeping, if a child is not sleeping the parent is probably not sleeping either so it can really affect the happiness of the household and really the development and learning of the child," she said.
Urgent change was needed, the report said.
The service had been classed as "vulnerable" and would be given $650,000 of Ministry of Health Covid-19 catch-up funding to help address the problems, it said.
The report also looked at routine appointments.
It revealed that most year 8 children would have their routine dental visit scrapped this year.
That is normally their last under the Auckland Regional Dental Service before they went on to be cared for by private dentists, although the government continued to pick up the bill until they were 18.
Only 13 percent of under-twos had been seen this year and nearly 60 percent of all children were overdue for their appointment.
Children who needed the most urgent work were being prioritised, it said.
The city's two Covid-19 lockdowns and more stringent hygiene practices had contributed to the delays, it said.
There was a serious problem with equity, with Māori and Pacific children less likely to be seen and more likely to have dental decay.
The service had been making good gains before Covid-19, the report said.
But there were now "serious delivery issues" outside of it's control and the situation was urgent, it said.
Ayers said she was shocked by the enormity of the problem and the data was extremely concerning.
It was understandable that children who needed care more urgently were being seen first but that was turning the service into an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, she said.
There would be other areas of the country with similar problems, she said.