"We now have a public health system that has sunk so low it says poor kids don't deserve a smile," says Labour Health spokeswoman Annette King.

Ms King has learned the government is making school dental therapists ask some parents to pay for white fillings on their childrens' front teeth.

She heard today from a Te Puke mother who was told recently her daughter could have a silver amalgam filling on a permanent front tooth for free, but a white one would cost $10. Tauranga parents have also been asked to pay.

"Demanding co-payment for childrens' dental care is unheard-of and illegal in the school dental service" Ms King says.

"We're talking about visible fillings a child will have for life. Only a morally bankrupt health system would be set up to leave a black mark on a poor child's smile."

Children are entitled by law to free dental care from the School Dental Service. White tooth filler is also available free under the General Dental Benefits scheme.

"The explanation being offered to parents is that the School Dental Service is only able to offer a limited number of free white fillings before it has to start charging," says Ms King.

"Wyatt Creech has to front up and explain this one. Hiding behind the Health Funding Authority won't do."

"This is Third World dentistry and health care. Amalgam fillings haven't been put in front teeth since the 1950s."

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>