The service had operated within health charity Te Kāika’s Caversham wellbeing hub since 2018 and been kitted out at the university’s expense, including four dental chairs valued about $360,000 in total.
The chairs have been left at Te Kāika, which is running its own dental service.
One source in Dunedin’s health sector expressed disappointment at the university’s decision, saying the provision had been ‘‘A strong model — I am hopeful it could happen again in the future’’.
Te Kāika, the brand name of charity Ōtākou Health Ltd, describes itself as a kaupapa Māori organisation providing low-cost healthcare.
When asked why the university-led service had been scrapped, Health Sciences Division pro-vice-chancellor Associate Prof Megan Gibbons said it was a planned move and the university’s Division of Health Sciences was transitioning to become a Treaty of Waitangi-led organisation.
Consequently, its Faculty of Dentistry was ‘‘strengthening its focus on Māori oral health and kaupapa Māori approaches to clinical training’’.
‘‘This includes work under way to grow Māori oral health teaching and practice within the faculty and to support the establishment of a Hauora Māori presence within our own dental facilities.’’
The university’s scrapped dental service at Te Kāika had provided general dental care to patients and delivered 1562 appointments for 502 patients last year and similar numbers in previous years.
The care was provided by students in oral health therapy and dental surgery, whose work was supervised by registered therapist and dentists.
The service had provided students with ‘‘hands-on experience providing care to community patients,’’ Assoc Prof Gibbons said.
However, less than a third of the 1562 appointments — 430 — were with Māori and Pasifika patients.
Far more Māori and Pasifika patients had been seen within the Faculty of Dentistry’s clinics, Assoc Prof Gibbons said.
In 2025, 5278 dental appointments at the faculty’s clinics were for Māori patients — 10% of its total patients — and 1583 appointments were for Pasifika patients.
‘‘Locating these initiatives within the university allows us to draw on existing Māori expertise across campuses, ensuring services and training opportunities benefit communities not only in Dunedin, but also Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland.’’
Assoc Prof Gibbons said there was a hope that the university would continue to offer and grow ‘‘outreach dental clinics’’, such as recent oral cancer screenings by university medics in Invercargill and Stewart Island.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) funds Te Kāika to provide dental services for adolescents until their 18th birthday and Te Kāika also offers dental services for adults.
HNZ is currently conducting an internal audit of Ōtākou Health Ltd, which is also under ongoing investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs.
Te Kāika did not respond to a request for comment.
