# Update on oral health services review — November 2026

Date: 5 Nov 2026
Released by: Health New Zealand

## MediaRelease.co Summary

Health New Zealand has released a November 2026 update on its Oral Health Services Review, summarising recent sector and community engagement. Pacific engagement by Pou Pasifika included an online survey with 52 responses from Pacific young people, parents or caregivers, alongside workshops highlighting cost, access and cultural barriers. Targeted engagement with disabled young people and whānau also stressed adaptable services, physically accessible clinics and mobile options as the review shapes future child and adolescent oral health models.

## Original release

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Oral Health Services Review so far. Over recent weeks we have heard from people across the oral health sector. We’ve also heard from Pacific children, young people and families, and disabled children, young people and whānau. These perspectives are helping us understand what is working well, where people experience barriers, and what future models of oral health care for children and young people need to look like. Stakeholders are consistently highlighting the need for accessible and flexible services that can respond to different communities, local contexts and needs. Hearing from Pacific communities Pacific engagement undertaken by Pou Pasifika included an online survey with 52 responses from Pacific young people, parents or caregivers across New Zealand, alongside face-to-face talanoa in South Auckland and Wellington. The engagements highlighted the central role of family and community in supporting oral health. Participants talked about barriers including cost, access, complex dental language, fear and shame, and the lack of Pacific representation in the oral health workforce. Young people want information that is simple, visual, and relatable, with Pacific languages, voices and culture reflected in how oral health is promoted. Trust, respect, and non-judgement were strong themes. These insights reinforce the importance of working with Pacific communities to shape services and approaches that are accessible, culturally grounded and centred on children, young people and their families. What matters for disabled children, young people and whānau Targeted engagement with disabled young people, parents, caregivers and whānau has been completed to better understand their experiences of oral health services and understand what a better system could look like. The engagement included four online hui and a survey. A clear message is that there is no single experience of disability, and services need to be able to adapt to each person's communication, sensory, mobility, and support needs. Participants highlighted the importance of feeling safe, having trusted relationships and continuity of care, clearer pathways, and better coordination between services. Participants consistently shared the importance of being treated with dignity, respect, and understanding. Whānau also identified practical opportunities, including more physically accessible clinics and mobile services, familiarisation visits before appointments, better information-sharing between providers, a consistent point of contact to help navigate care, and more support with transitions between services. What we are hearing through the stakeholder survey Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Review Engagement survey, which has added further important perspectives. Recurring themes include the value of free oral health care for tamariki and rangatahi and the importance of services delivered close to where people live and learn. At the same time, people are calling for better access and outreach, a sustainable workforce, stronger prevention and early intervention, better connections between services, and flexible commissioning and funding arrangements that can respond to local need. A strong thread throughout the feedback is the need to design services around whānau, rather than expecting whānau to navigate the system on their own. Respondents described the need to take oral health care to whānau through a wider range of community settings; provide more flexible appointment options; and strengthen the use of kaiāwhina and navigation roles. Workstreams in progress - Research on user experiences, care components, delivery models, scopes of practice - Clinical and technical input - Data analysis and modelling (service, financial and workforce) - Stakeholder engagement - Whānau voice input ( Māori, Pacific and disabled families and young people) An updated timeline for the review The timeframe for completing the review has been updated. The final recommendations are now expected in mid-April 2027, rather than December 2026. We believe it is important to allow enough time to fully incorporate all stakeholder, whānau, technical and clinical perspectives for meaningful input and testing to ensure the final recommendations are robust, practical and informed by the people who use and deliver oral health services. The next phase of the review will bring together all the work completed to date to develop draft recommendations for future models of care and progress the commissioning framework that will support those future models. We will continue to update you on our progress through future pānui. You can also refer to the dedicated review webpage for further information.

## Key details

- Issued by: Health New Zealand
- Published: 5 Nov 2026
- Publisher country: New Zealand
- Subject country/region: New Zealand

Original source: https://www.healthnz.govt.nz/news-and-updates/update-oral-health-services-review-november-2026
MediaRelease.co canonical URL: https://mediarelease.co/nz/mr02674-update-on-oral-health-services-review-november-2026-05112026.html