It’s been a big year for the Dental for All campaign. We are calling for free and universal oral healthcare as part of a public health system which is well-resourced and consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Here is some of what we’ve worked on as a team.
The Dental for All coalition met twice this year, to touch base as a team and talk strategy. This group includes unions, anti-poverty organisations, dentists and oral health workers and other organisations who are supporting the campaign. We’ve also been excited to have new members join the coalition as our momentum builds.
A three-year grant from the Clare Foundation has enabled the ActionStation team to continue driving Dental for All forward. We began the year with Clea Guy-Allen as a campaigner, before she had to return to the United Kingdom. We were then lucky to have Hana Pilkinton-Ching and Kayli Taylor (Kayli having been involved with the campaign already) take over as campaigners from Clea, alongside Max Harris.
Throughout the year, the ActionStation campaign team were busy building and maintaining new and ongoing relationships. This included students and academics in dentistry and oral health at Otago University, supporters and partners working across oral health and anti-poverty spaces, and the New Zealand Dental Association. We also met and had conversations with politicians or advisors from Labour, Te Pāti Māori, and the Green Party. We sought a meeting with the National Party but were unable to pin this down.
We released a report produced by FrankAdvice which assessed the costs of current oral health policy in Aotearoa, specifically the social, economic and fiscal costs of adults not being able to access oral health care. This report had strong media coverage from TVNZ Breakfast, RNZ, Re:News, and elsewhere. Three further reports are being planned for release next year, to continue building a strong evidence base for free, universal, Te Tiriti-consistent oral healthcare.
In November, we supported a community panel event about Dental for All organised by coalition member Auckland Action Against Poverty, where community advocates and oral health workers shared their experiences in the oral health system and how we can improve it for everyone.
We had messaging produced for us by communication researchers at The Workshop, which we will weave into our activities. We launched social media pages for the campaign so that we can share Dental for All updates and calls to action more widely.
There’s a lot in the works for next year: as well as the further research being produced, we will be launching a roadshow of community events, and continuing to build a support network and deeper relationships with politicians. We think universal, Te Tiriti-consistent dental is within our grasp as a campaign goal, and we are getting closer to Dental for All every day!