New Zealand Dental Association wants more dental students

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 4. December 2025

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AUCKLAND, New Zealand: Besides a persistent dental crisis, New Zealand is facing an annual migration net loss of tens of thousands of young working age adults. However, according to the New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA), most dentists who complete their training in the country remain in the domestic dental workforce. The association is urging the government to expand dental training places by 50%, warning that the current shortage of practitioners is undermining access to care, particularly in smaller towns and rural areas.

As the country marked National Oral Health Day in November, NZDA President Dr David Excell emphasised in a press release that nearly half of New Zealanders have not visited a dentist in the past 12 months and that one-fifth of those who did book an appointment faced a waiting time of at least four weeks. “That’s unacceptable for a country that values health equity,” Dr Excell said.

The association’s new Roadmap Towards Better Oral Health identifies workforce shortages and regional imbalances as key barriers to improving access and turning the tables on a deepening dental crisis. Although the overall number of dentists in New Zealand has increased over the past decade, the report shows that the ratio of dentists to population has actually declined, a trend that is acutely felt in rural areas and smaller regional centres. In some areas, the number of dentists per capita is only a third of that in major urban centres, the report states. Dentists working in underserved regions report heavy workloads, extended hours, and difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff—factors that contribute to increased stress and burn-out across the profession.

Data cited in the report shows that between 2012 and 2024 New Zealand’s population aged 15 and over grew from 3.5 million to 4.4 million, while the number of practising dentists rose from 2,127 to 2,724. Despite this, the ratio of dentists to population fell by almost 5%, and dentists are estimated to be working around 19% more hours each week on average. According to the NZDA, this pattern points to a workforce that is already stretched simply to keep up with rising demand.

Regional figures underline the inequities. By 2024, around six in seven New Zealand health service regions had 45 or fewer full-time equivalent dentists per 100,000 adults—a level that other countries have associated with serious difficulties in access, recruitment and retention. A 2022 NZDA survey also reported that roughly three in five dentists in rural practices and around two in five in urban and suburban practices considered their workload heavier than they would like and that more rural practitioners reported poor mental health.

Investing in dental care now to safeguard the future of oral health

Dr Excell said the most effective immediate step would be to increase dental student intake. “We need more dentists, better distributed. It’s that simple,” he argued. Increasing annual graduate numbers from 60 to 90, he said, would help build a sustainable workforce pipeline to serve communities nationwide, including those outside the main cities, where recruitment remains challenging.

According to the NZDA, delivering on the Roadmap’s workforce proposal is not merely a matter of convenience. It is critical to prevent further deterioration in oral health outcomes and to protect equal access to care. The association’s call for a 50% increase in new dental graduates underscores a growing urgency and is framed as “an investment in the dental workforce of the future”. Without additional graduates entering the profession, the NZDA warns, the current system risks being overwhelmed, putting both patients and practitioners under unsustainable pressure.

Topics:

General Dentistry

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Dental students Dental training New Zealand New Zealand Dental Association

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