Photo: AFP/ Thibaut Durand/ Hans Lucas

Nearly 5000 children with rotten teeth are waiting in pain to have them surgically extracted.

Health NZ figures show as of September, there were 4866 children and young people on the dental surgery wait list - an increase of 900 in two years.

The Dental Association's director of policy, Dr Robin Whyman, told Nine to Noon, the waiting list was down slightly in the last year due to huge efforts across the sector, partly in response to the government's target to reduce wait times.

"The way to ge

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