‘Burn out’ begins to bite
Dentists working many more hours than usual to cope with demand
Southland dentists are feeling ‘‘burnt out’’, working many more hours than usual to cope with demand for their services.
New Zealand Dental Association Southland branch president Kate Tiriaere said despite Southland practices being fully staffed, dentists were working overtime at the expense of their wellbeing and families to address a shortage of clinics in the area.
‘‘Our dentists are getting tired and burnt out, and feel terrible about the current situation and not being able to see people who need treatment,’’ she said.
Last year, a shortage in dentists in Southland saw patients wait up to four months for appointments.
New dentists had arrived in the area since then, Tiriaere said, but this simply meant patients that already had a dentist were facing shorter wait times, with many clinics still unable to accept new clients.
‘‘More dental clinics are needed in the area,’’ she said.
The lack of clinics has begun to impact adolescent oral health care referrals, where students are referred to a dental practise for publicly funded oral healthcare following being discharged from a school or community dental health clinic at the end of Year 8.
Lumino general manager Phillip Worsley said it only had clinician capacity to accept 100 of the 150 children referred to its Invercargill practise this year, and the New Zealand Dental Association say the issue is ‘‘widespread’’ in Southland.
Worsley said it recognised the importance of oral healthcare and prioritised its available clinicians to assist wherever possible.
‘‘However, unfortunately we are not able to take more at this time due to our dental clinician resource capacity,’’ he said.
Tiriaere said the issue was ‘‘widespread’’ in Southland.
‘‘This is definitely a widespread issue in Southland, and is due to practices not wanting to take on new patients, which would lead to longer waits for patients already on their books,’’ she said.
‘‘The funding from the district health board for year 8 to 18-yearolds, often doesn’t even cover the costs for their treatment, so financially it is also not worth practices taking these patients on.’’
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said Health New Zealand funded adolescent dental care through the combined dental agreement, with an estimated $2.33 million spent on adolescent oral health services in the Southern area in 2020/2021.
The Combined Dental Agreement sets fees for adolescent dental care, it said.
Under the Combined Dental Agreement 2022, dentists receive one payment per patient per year dependent on the school decile level. This ranges from $140.88 to $223.39.
The ministry was currently looking at mobile dental clinic capacity throughout the country, and had engaged with a number of oral health providers to understand what additional dental needs are required across regions, it said.
‘‘Our dentists are getting tired and burnt out, and feel terrible about the current situation and not being able to see people who need treatment.’’ Kate Tiriaere New Zealand Dental Association Southland branch president