· New Zealand Dental Health Services
Children
All children up to Year 8 get free dental care form the School Dental Service. Children can be enrolled at the School Dental Service from one year of age. It is important that preschool children receive dental checks and treatment as early as possible
Adolescents
From Year 9 up to the age of 18, teenagers get free dental care from dentists who are participants of the Adolescent Dental Scheme.
You can either:
§ use the lists of dentists (who provide free care) on the CDHB (Canterbury District Health Board) youth dental services
§ look under Dentists in the Yellow Pages
§ use your family dentist.
If you have located a dentist using the Yellow Pages, or if you want to use your family dentist, you need to call and ask if the dentist provides free dental care for adolescents, or see if you can locate him/her in the lists provided in the CDHB website.
For more information about the free dental services for teenagers see the Ministry of Health website: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/oralhealth-teenage
or call their toll free number: 0800-ITS FREE (0800-487 373)
Adults
Adults will need to pay for their own dental care. A list of dentists can be found at the Yellow Pages.
