With a massive underuse of a free dental scheme for kids which sees 1.5 million kids a year missing out, dentists are calling on the Government to put an end to the misinformation surrounding the scheme—and better promote it to parents.
New data from an Australian Dental Association (ADA) survey of 25,000 adults shows that around one in four parents believe their child is eligible for free dental treatment under the government’s Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS).
Yet only around one in three families who are eligible for the free treatment actually use it. Meanwhile the ADA survey has found the scheme is shrouded in confusion and misinformation, with many parents unaware of its existence or unsure of their eligibility, leaving millions of young mouths at risk.
In real terms, this dramatic under-utilisation rate means of the 2,595,862 children who were eligible for the CDBS in 2020-2021, just 1,003,838 children used its services. That means around 1.59 million children are going without the free dental care that’s rightfully theirs.
“This leaves millions of eligible Australian families either going without dental care or paying more out of pocket than they need to, when it could so well fund a child’s first dental visit,” ADA president Dr Chris Sanzaro said.
“It’s a scheme that’s shrouded in mystery and confusion—and with over 1.5m Australian kids missing out, the government urgently needs to better promote it to ensure eligible families can access this care.”
For eligible families, typically those in receipt of Family Tax Benefit A, the CDBS provides up to $1132 over a two-year period for dental services such as examinations, X-rays, cleaning, fissure sealing, fillings, root canals and extractions for children aged from newborn to 17.
“We’re keen to work with the Government to help clarify the basic elements of the scheme and promote it to patients and parents to ensure millions of kids are getting the dental treatment and care they need to set them up with healthy mouths early in life,” Dr Sanzaro added.
