School Dental Service

The School Dental Service provides free dental care for children at school based clinics. Dental care is available for children from pre-school through to the end of primary or intermediate school.

The School Dental Service is provided to all children on within Capital & Coast District Health board by Hutt Valley District Health Board. More information can be found on the Hutt Valley District Health Board website.

A Dental Therapist and a Dental Assistant provide dental care in school-based clinics. Most Dental Clinics are permanently located on school grounds. The Central Wellington region is serviced by four mobile clinics.

Children are assessed according to their dental needs and treated as required. Dental health education is a routine part of individualized dental care. Where children need Special Dental Services that cannot be provided by a Dental Therapist they may be referred to a dentist for free treatment. You can view a list of current contracted providers for these services.

Parents are encouraged to enrol their children into the School Dental Service from the age of two years. This helps them get to know their Dental Therapist and become used to the dental clinic.

To enrol your child, you must fill in a form and post back to the School Dental Service. Please make sure you fill out all parts of the form and sign the "agreement for service" section at the end.

You can enrol by:

downloading and printing the enrolment form,
picking up a copy of the enrolment form at:
- your local dental clinic,
- school,
- Plunket, or
- a variety of other health and community organisations.

Return the completed form to your nearest dental clinic or to the regional office at Hutt Hospital, High Street, Private Bag 31-903, Lower Hutt.

For enquires contact the School Dental Service on (04) 570 9292