Dental treatment

If you're on a low income or benefit, we may be able to help you pay for immediate and essential dental treatment.

Immediate and essential dental treatment includes treatment such as fillings and extractions, but not periodic cleaning or check-ups. See more examples in the 'What you can get' section.

You can apply for up to $1,000 a year (any 52-week period), to help with immediate and essential dental treatment. You don't have to pay this back.

We may still be able to help if the cost of your dental treatment is more than $1,000. You may need to pay some of this back, depending on your situation. Talk to us about how we can help.

You don't have to be on a benefit to qualify.

You may be able to get help for dental treatment for yourself or a child, if immediate and essential work needs to be done.

To apply, you need to:

  • be 16 or over (if you're 16-19 and have a Youth Service provider, contact Youth Services)
  • be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
  • normally live in New Zealand and intend to stay here
  • have an immediate and essential need.

It also depends on:

  • how much you (and your partner) earn
  • any money or assets you (and your partner) have.

Your income will be assessed either weekly or yearly, depending on the kind of income or benefit you receive. The following income and asset limits usually apply:

 

Current income limits

If you are: Weekly income before tax is less than
Single and 16 to 17 years old $783.91
Single and 18 years old or over $900.93
Couple (with or without children) $1,308.60
Sole parent with 1 child $1,093.25
Sole parent with 2 or more children $1,151.80
 

Asset limits

These don't include what you need for day-to-day living, eg your home or your car. They do include things like money in the bank, or a second property.

If you are: Your assets are worth less than
Single $1,279.35
Couple (with or without children) or sole parent $2,131.73

We can help pay for immediate and essential treatment, which can include:

  • extractions
  • fillings for tooth restoration – not for cosmetic or for non-oral health issues
  • root canal treatment (except molars)
  • treatment of infection.

It does not include:

  • regular dental check-ups
  • cosmetic treatment
  • scale and polish, and teeth cleaning (unless this treatment is required because of gum infection)
  • cast restorations
  • orthodontic treatment
  • molar root canal treatment
  • dentures. If you need help with dentures, there are other ways we can help, such as recoverable assistance or an advance payment of benefit. Talk to us about how we can help.

You can apply more than once a year (any 52-week period), up to a total of $1,000 for the period. You don't have to apply for all the assistance at once. You don't have to pay this money back.

Payments over $1,000

If you need help with immediate and essential dental treatment that's over $1,000, or that will bring your total payments within a 52-week period to over $1,000, we still may be able to help you meet this cost. You may need to pay some of this back. Talk to us about the options available to you.

Examples of how much we can pay

If you haven't had help from us for dental treatment in the last 52 weeks, we could pay up to $1,000 towards immediate and essential treatment.

If you got $1,000 for dental treatment on 12 December 2022, you wouldn't have any dental treatment funds available until 12 December 2023. If you need more treatment talk to us, we may still be able to help you.

More than one payment in a year

If you got $300 for dental treatment on 1 July 2022, and you need more treatment 6 months later, you still have up to $700 available to you. From 1 July 2023, the $300 that was used on 1 July 2022, would again be available. If no other payments had been made in that period, then you would have a total of $1,000 available for immediate and essential dental treatment.

Step 1: Get a Dental Treatment information form

Your dentist or health agency needs to complete a Dental Treatment information form. They will already have this form and will fill it in when they examine you.

The form will tell us:

  • what dental treatment you need
  • the cost of the treatment
  • who is providing the treatment, and
  • any other information that will help us assess your application.

We can only make payments to dentists or health agencies who are registered suppliers with us. You can ask them if they are registered with us.

Step 2: Apply for dental treatment

How you apply depends on whether you're a client with us or not.

You're a client with us

The easiest way to apply is in MyMSD under 'One-off cost'. You can upload the Dental Treatment Information form during the application. Once you've completed the application, you'll need to check MyMSD again to see if it's been approved. This can take up to 1 working day.

Otherwise you can either:

  • call us to apply over the phone. You'll need to upload the form through MyMSD (we can help you do this), or
  • drop or post the form to a service centre. Then call us so we can process this on the phone. Please allow enough time for us to get the form and add it to your file before calling.
Phone us
Find a service centre

You're not a client with us

You can either:

  • call us to apply over the phone. We'll set you up with a MyMSD login and help you upload the form through MyMSD, or
  • drop or post the form to a service centre. Then call us so we can process this on the phone. Please allow enough time for us to get the form and add it to your file before calling.
Phone us
Find a service centre
linksDownload the screenshots of what you'll see when you apply in MyMSD (Word 654.61KB)

Step 3: Get a payment card

If your application is approved, we'll load the money onto your Work and Income Payment Card. If you don't already have a Payment Card, you can pick one up from a service centre.

You'll pay the dentist with your Payment Card (like an Eftpos card). In some cases, we may pay it directly to the dentist or health agency.

You have 7 working days to pay your dentist or health agency before it expires. If you need more time, call us before the 7 day period has ended. You can also pay your dentist or health agency before you get the treatment, if you can't get an appointment within 7 days.

You can login to MyMSD to see how much you have left on your payment card and when the payment expires.

 
Go to My MSD login

Community Services Card

If you have a Community Services Card, you may be able to get dental treatment through your local hospital.

Talk to a health practitioner, e.g. your doctor or dentist, about this.

Community Services Card

ACC

ACC may be able to cover dental injuries caused by accidents, sports injuries, or as a result of medical or dental treatment.

Find out more about injuries ACC covers

Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health has advice about emergency dental care, including how to find an after-hours dentist or how your local hospital can help.

Find out more about emergency dental care from the Ministry of Health

You may be able to get publicly funded dental care if you're under 18 years of age, or have a Community Services Card, or have a disability or medical condition.

Find out about publicly funded dental care from the Ministry of Health

If you have a patient who needs help to pay for immediate and essential dental treatment, they may apply for financial support through Work and Income.

You'll need to:

There's more information on our page:

Dental treatment - information for dentists and health agencies

The information on this page is available in alternate formats.

Watch the New Zealand Sign Language video on YouTube:

View transcript of 'New Zealand Sign Language video on how we can help with immediate and essential dental treatment.' video
Help with paying for immediate and essential dental treatment
Introduction: If you qualify, you can get help with up to one thousand dollars a year for immediate and essential dental treatment.
You don’t have to pay this money back.
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) may be able to help.
MSD includes Work and Income and StudyLink, who provide services for individuals and whānau (families) throughout New Zealand.
To qualify, you need to: be 16 or over, be a New Zealander (citizen or permanent resident),
live in New Zealand, and have an immediate and essential need for dental treatment.
It also depends on: how much you and your partner earn,
any money or assets you and your partner have, and what type of dental treatment you need help with.
Our website has more details about the criteria.
Work and Income or StudyLink can help pay for immediate and essential dental treatment, which can include:
extractions, fillings for tooth restorations (except for cosmetic or for non-oral health issues),
root canal treatments (except for molar teeth), or treating infections.
It does not include: regular check-ups, cosmetic treatments, teeth cleaning – unless it’s for gum infections,
cast restorations, orthodontic treatments, molar root canal treatments, or dentures.
If you need help with dentures, there are other ways we can help, such as recoverable assistance or an advance payment of benefit.
Talk to us about how we can help.
How much can you get? You can apply more than once a year, up to a total of one thousand dollars for the period.
You don't have to apply for all the assistance at once. You don't have to pay this money back.
If you need help with more than one thousand dollars in a year, talk to Work and Income or StudyLink.
There might be ways we can help. Talk to us about how we can help.
How to apply? Step 1: Visit your dentist (or the health agency completing the dental treatment).
Your dentist or health agency needs to complete a Dental Treatment information form.
They will already have this form and will fill it in when they examine you. The form tells us key information that we need.
The form asks for: what dental treatment you need, how much it will cost,
the dentist’s details, and anything else that your dentist wants to say.
Step 2: Apply to Work and Income or StudyLink. There are different ways to apply:
applying in MyMSD, visiting a Work and Income service centre, or calling Work and Income or StudyLink.
When you apply, we’ll go through the next steps with you. This includes how you can pay your dentist if your application is approved.
How to apply in MyMSD? If you have MyMSD it’s easy to apply there.
Log in to your MyMSD account. Select ‘Apply’. Select ‘I need help with a one-off cost’.
Select ‘Medical and dental’, then select ‘Dental costs’. Upload a photo of your Dental Treatment information form.
Answer the questions about your situation. Search for your dentist by adding them as a ‘supplier’. Finish the application.
When you’re done, check MyMSD again in 45 minutes for the result.
How to apply in person? To apply in person, you can visit your local Work and Income service centre.
Bring your completed Dental Treatment information form with you. You can also bring a support person with you if you like.
To find your local Work and Income service centre, you can visit this webpage.
How to apply over the phone?
If you’re deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech impairment (or find it hard to communicate by phone), you can text or email us.
Or, you can contact us through NZ Relay.
If you’re 18 to 64 you can call us Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm or Saturday 8am to 1pm.
If you’re over 65 you can call us Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm.
If you’re a student with StudyLink you can call us Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm.
linksDownload the Braille file - Dental treatment information (brf File 5.75KB)
linksListen to the audio file of our dental treatment information (Mpeg 2.65MB)
linksDental treatment information in a large print Word document (Word 268.21KB)
linksDental treatment information in an Easy Read PDF document (PDF 3.12MB)
linksDental treatment information in an Easy Read Word document (Word 3.78MB)

Related

Find a registered oral health practitioner - dcnz.org.nz
Community Services Card
News story - Dental changes from 1 December 2022