The Child Dental Benefits Schedule is a Federal Government scheme aimed to provide all eligible children aged 2 – 17 years with basic dental services. It will commence on 1 January 2014 and will provide access to capped benefits of $1000 over 2 years for eligible children and it will replace the existing Medicare Teen Dental Plan.
The scheme will have a means test, which requires receipt of Family Tax Benefit Part A (FTB-A) or a relevant Australian Government payment.
The Child Dental Benefits Schedule will provide individual benefits for a range of services including examinations, x-rays, cleaning, fissure sealing, fillings, root canals and extractions. Benefits will not be available for orthodontic or cosmetic dental work and will not be paid for any services provided in a hospital.
As part of our ethos and commitment to families struggling to afford dental services, the Hobart Orofacial Pain and Special Needs Clinic will be accepting these vouchers for eligible children to be seen through our ‘Affordable Dental Care’ service.
In addition, the Federal Government has stated that the Child Dental Benefits will only apply to treatment provided out of hospital. Therefore, for any child or family that cannot afford private hospital cover / fees, we are the only practice within the State of Tasmania, that is able to provide treatment under Conscious Sedation under the scheme, should a child not be able to cope with dental treatment in the chair.
For more information and eligibility criteria, please visit the Governments website at: Child Dental Benefits Schedule
Please visit our ‘Affordable Dental Care’ page for additional information on services for eligible adults and children.