New Zealand introduces free school dental care - a world first

Image: Miss Boyd, 28 May 1946. Nelson Provincial Museum, Geoffrey C Wood Collection: 200618 [cropped]

Almost 100 years ago today New Zealand marked yet another world first by offering free dental care to primary school students. The initiative, launched on 8 March 1921, was part of a state-funded School Dental Service that saw the selection of 34 women to be trained as dental nurses.

Opinion about the all-women dental nurse program was initially divided. Some agreed that women had all the qualities needed, while many male dentists were concerned women would not have the strength to undertake dentistry and would inevitably lower standards. These fears were countered by assuring dentists that nurses would be the responsibility of a public health dentist.

The first wave of dental nurses graduated in mid-1923 and the first school dental clinic opened in the Hawkes Bay in July 1923. The School Dental Service, or ‘murder-house’ as it came to known by school children, was established.