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University of Otago to open $28 million dental teaching facility in South Auckland

August 27, 2018

The news was announced by Health Minister David Clark in Manukau today.

The University of Otago says they're building a dental teaching facility and patient treatment clinic in South Auckland to help meet high health needs, while providing students with wide-ranging learning opportunities in a diverse community.

The $28.2 million, two-storey, 32-chair building will be built upon land owned by the Counties Manukau District Health Board at its Manukau Super Clinic on Great South Road.

The university says the new Faculty of Dentistry will regularly consult the community to find out what it needs from the clinics then work to deliver that, the faculty will also provide a wide range of outreach activities.

Horizontal close-up image of dentist holding digital tablet and showing an x-ray image.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Division of Health Sciences, Professor Paul Brunton, says the project is a win-win situation for both the local community and the University.

"Patients are contributing to the education of the country’s future dentists and, in exchange, they have access to high-quality dental care," Professor Brunton says.

The Counties Manukau dental teaching facility and patient treatment clinic will follow the long-standing social contract model operated in Dunedin, where patients receive treatment provided by students under supervision at a highly accessible cost, Professor Brunton says.

Forty-eight final-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery students will be assigned to the Counties Manukau facility at any one time.

The project will aim to strengthen relationships and partnerships with Māori and Pacific communities as well, based on mutually beneficial goals incorporating patient care, research and education.

Chief Operating Officer Stephen Willis says design work is already underway and work should start on the site later this year, with the aim of completing the project in 2020.

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