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Story: Dental care

Dental nursing: Mobile dental clinic, 1949

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Dental nursing: Mobile dental clinic, 1949

A dental nurse at Te Kaha in the Bay of Plenty encourages a rather reluctant young patient to enter the mobile clinic and take her place in the dental chair. After the Second World War, dental nurses in rural areas used mobile clinics to provide services to children in remote locations – meaning that children in small one-teacher schools could receive the same services as children in schools with fully equipped dental clinics. The mobile clinics were used not just for dental treatments, but also for promoting oral health.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, National Publicity Studios Collection

Reference: 1/2-033761-F

by William Wilson

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Andrew Schmidt and Susan Moffat, Dental care – Dental nurses to dental therapists, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/30596/dental-nursing-mobile-dental-clinic-1949 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Andrew Schmidt and Susan Moffat, published 29 March 2011.