Child Dental Benefits Schedule

What CDBS Medicare?

It is an Australian Government program that provides up to $1026 in dental benefits for children over two consecutive calendar years, covering most basic dental services (but not specialist services like orthodontics or services under general anaesthesia.)

Child Dental Benefits Schedule

Some basic dental services for children may be covered by this plan if you receive certain payments from the Govt.

Your child must meet all of the following requirements:

A person aged 0 to 17 during a calendar year
A Medicare beneficiary
Receive a payment from the Government at least once a year, or have a parent who does.

Who can get it

See if your child qualifies for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS). CDBS does not require you to apply or register. We will send you a letter if your child is eligible. CDBS is available to your child if all of the following conditions are met:

There is a Medicare eligibility for them
They are at least 0-17 years old for at least one day of the calendar year
At least once in that calendar year, you or they receive an eligible payment.

You can either be the child’s:

Guardian or parent
approved care organisation.

Eligibility checks

CDBS eligibility for your child this year.

The Government checks your child’s eligibility for dental benefits every January. Their team keeps checking throughout the year. A letter will be sent to you if they are eligible. In case you’re not sure, you can either:

MyGov allows you to check your Medicare account online
You can reach the Medicare program by phone.

Child dental costs can be covered in other ways. Find out about public dental services in your state or territory on the website of the Department of Health and Aged Care.

What’s covered

Find out what child dental services we cover and how much CDBS covers.

The CDBS covers basic dental services up to $1,026 over two calendar years. Each year, the cap amount is indexed on 1 January. An increase in the cap amount will only apply to children or teenagers who received their first eligible service during that calendar year. We will cover the following services:

Basic dental services are subject to some restrictions. Before beginning your procedure, check with your dentist to see if there are any restrictions on what you can bring or the time you can spend.

The following services do not count towards both thresholds:

Medicare Safety Net
Extended Medicare Safety Net.

The services Medicare won’t cover are all of the following:

any dental services in a hospital.
orthodontic work
cosmetic dental work

The 2 year period

Each eligible child is eligible to receive up to $1,026 over two consecutive calendar years. Your child begins the 2 year period at the beginning of the calendar year in which they both:

becomes eligible
gets their first dental service.
In the first calendar year, you can use the full amount up to $1,026.
As a result, there will be no funds left for the second year.

You can use the remaining $1,026 in the second year if your child is still eligible if you don’t use it all the first year. The remaining funds cannot be used if you do not use the entire amount within two calendar years. In order for you to start your new two-year cover period, you’ll need to wait for it to begin. Likewise, you won’t be able to use any remaining funds once your child no longer qualifies.

Child Dental Benefits Schedule

What CDBS Medicare?