Our policy is to be transparent about the costs of dental treatment and to do what we can to make them affordable.
We offer a range of payment options so paying for your new smile is as easy and stress-free as possible.
Normally, we require payment at the time of treatment, unless by prior arrangement.
At Downtown Dental we understand that having dentistry in NZ can be costly. NZ has one of the highest standards of dental care in the world and this combined with the fact the Government only funds dental care for children under the age of 18 means that the public have to pay for the full price of dental treatment with virtually no assistance or subsidies. Having such high standards means high compliance costs including regular training and skill updates for dentists and staff, state of the art sterilisation standards (bordering on hospital operating theatre levels) and modern equipment and facilities. However, we also take into account that dentistry is an important health service and that we have a responsibility to make dental care as accessible to the public as possible. To this end, we keep our prices as low as possible without compromising the standard of care we provide to our patients. This is especially for basic maintenance such as examinations, xrays and teeth cleaning which you will see we keep very low to encourage people to be proactive with preventative care for their teeth – which is the best way to keep dental costs down by avoiding expensive dental problems.
Children in New Zealand who meet the eligibility criteria for publicly funded health and disability services are entitled to free basic oral health services from birth to 17 years of age (until their 18th birthday).
Downtown Dental is contracted to the Ministry of Health to provide free basic dental health care as part of the public health system in NZ. There are two different age brackets for this funding.
For children under the age of 13 ie not yet Year 9, not yet at high school, their dental needs are taken care of by the school dental system at school or community clinics. We are contracted (via a Special Dental Services contract) to treat children in the age bracket but only in cases of emergency where that child is not able to access a school dental clinic for some reason or else if referred by a school dental therapist for treatment.
From year 9 onwards, the system changes and children (well they are teenagers actually by this point) need to switch to a dentist holding a OHSA (Oral Health Services for Adolescents) agreement. Basic checkups (one per year), cleaning, fillings, extractions are covered as are some more complex procedures such as root canals and crowns. Braces or orthodontics is not covered. Damage to teeth caused by accidents are required to be treated under ACC and not the school dental system. Also only basic dental care is covered and some more comprehensive treatments may incur a separate private fee. This would be discussed with the child’s parents in advance.
Gentle Dentistry By Experts Who Care
We deliver first class dental services with a huge focus on patient comfort. Our mission is to make the dentist’s chair a pleasant place to be, so there’s no reason to put off taking care of your teeth. To this end, we cultivate a friendly, jovial atmosphere and perform all dental work as painlessly as possible.
