Dr Claire Ashworth
Principal dentist · BDS Otago
Opened Ferngate in 2016 after a decade in busy corporate practices convinced her appointments shouldn't feel like a conveyor belt. Special interest in anxious patients.
About Ferngate
The practice you'd send your most nervous friend to
Ferngate opened in 2016 in a converted character building on Egmont Street — high ceilings, real daylight, and a deliberate absence of that dental-corridor smell.
The story
Dr Claire Ashworth spent ten years in high-volume corporate practices watching twenty-minute appointments turn dentistry into a production line — and patients into no-shows.
Ferngate was the counter-argument: fewer patients per day, 40-minute appointments, prices published on the website, and a standing rule that nothing gets done without a written quote and a genuine reason.
Eight years on, the team is seven strong and most new patients arrive the same way you probably did — someone they trust told them it's different here.
The promise
Slow by design
40-minute appointments. We run on time because we don't overbook.
Honest to a fault
If it can wait, we'll say so. If a clean gets you 80% of the result, we'll say that too.
Fixed quotes
In writing, before treatment. The price we say is the price you pay.
Anxiety-aware
Raise a hand, we stop. Longer quiet slots for nervous patients, oral sedation when it helps.
The team
The people behind the calm
Dr Priya Sharma
Dentist · BDS Otago
Joined in 2019. Restorative and cosmetic dentistry with a perfectionist streak — her crown margins are a small point of studio pride.
Marcus Reid
Oral health therapist
Hygiene visits people genuinely don't dread. Gentle hands, good playlists, and an encyclopaedic knowledge of Wellington coffee.
Sarah Tuilagi
Practice manager
Runs the front of house, the schedules and the payment plans. If we've texted you back within the hour, that was Sarah.
Credentials, for the record
- Registered with the Dental Council of New Zealand
- New Zealand Dental Association member
- ACC accredited for dental injuries
Ferngate Dental Limited · NZBN 9429041234567
4.9 on Google · 180+ reviews
Word gets around, gently
“I hadn't seen a dentist in six years because of a bad experience. Claire talked me through every step and I genuinely felt in control the whole time. Went back for a clean last week — voluntarily.”
“Quoted $340, charged $340. Explained what could wait and what couldn't. That's all I've ever wanted from a dentist.”
“Took my 5-year-old for her first visit. Marcus made it feel like a game and she asked when she gets to go back. Unheard of.”
Come meet us properly
A new-patient exam is $95, takes 40 minutes, and commits you to absolutely nothing.