Māori dentist turns the 'murder house' into a marae

  • 28/05/2017

He takes the pain out of the pocket and the fear out of going to the dentist.

Dr Scott Waghorn fron Ngāpuhi is on a mission to make dental care a bit more Māori-friendly.

Māori are twice as likely to need tooth extractions as non-Māori, and are less likely to receive dental care until the situation is dire.

Dr Waghorn thinks there should be quality in dental care, and that's exactly what he's trying to achieve at Dental Care West in west Auckland.

Scott Waghorn (The Hui)
Scott Waghorn (The Hui)

Dr Waghorn speaks about his Māori patients as if they're whānau.

"They're really happy to see faces that look like theirs and people willing to spend a bit of time to get to know them," he told The Hui.

Dr Scott was raised by his Pākehā adoptive parents, so recconecting to his taha Māori has been a welcome exchange between him and the Māori staff he's hired.

He says what makes him smile is seeing his vision of turning his dental clinic into a marae become a reality.

Watch the video for the full report from The Hui.