Taking advantage of Medicare Child Dental Benefits Scheme
School holidays are approaching!
Try to benefit from this time of year and book your children in for their regular dental check-up or any other needed treatment, by using your private health dental benefits or the Medicare’s Child Dental Benefit Scheme.
Good oral health is an important “pillar” of a good overall health. A dental check-up will provide a great start to dental health for you and your children.
According to prof. David Manton, the Chair of the Australian Dental Association’s (ADA) Oral Health Committee, there are lots of evidences suggesting that the oral health of Australian children is not at the level that should be, having over 4 out of 10 children aged 5-10 with decay in their baby teeth; more than 3 out of 10 children aged 9-14 having decay in their permanent teeth and over 4 out of 10 children overall had moderate or abundant visible plaque on their teeth. With these, the Professor Manton is accentuating the need and the importance for a regular dental check-up.
In accordance with statistical studies, children under the age of 10 are best treated in the morning, when they are fresh and rested, rather than in the afternoon, when they might be tired after school and the treatment could be more stressful for them and their parents. Parents may have some concerns about taking the children out of school for their dental appointments. One of the best solutions is to arrange an appointment to see the dentist during school holiday periods.
The teenagers can be seen in the afternoons, because they are more relaxed at 2pm rather than 3.30pm or later. But they may still have school at that time of the day. Sometimes it is easier to remove them from school for the last one or two lessons than taking them out of school and returning after, especially if they may have a numb jaw after fillings or extraction treatments. Again, the best solution is to have them booked at the dentist during their school holidays.
Pre-booking your child for the next visit in 6 months for a regular check-up gives parents a greater flexibility in selecting the best times that suit their children’s ages and school requirements. Also, you could wisely use the benefits for dental treatments from your health private funds.
If you have not known, maybe you should consider to check if your child is eligible for the Australian Government’s Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) and having basic dental treatments covered by Medicare. This service is designed to provide financial support for children between the ages 2-17 years of age, allocating $1000 every two years for basic dental services, per child. Prior to book an appointment at the dentist, check with Medicare to see if they are eligible. Under this scheme, children can receive treatment from either a public or private dental clinic. You should let the dentist know, when you are booking, that you are looking to take advantage of this scheme. At the time of appointment, you will need to have a current Medicare card and fill in a “CDBS bulk billing consent form”.
Basic dental services covered by the scheme are: examinations, X-Rays, cleaning, fissure sealing, fillings, root canal treatment, some extractions.
Please note that services including orthodontic or cosmetic dental work are not covered by the Child Dental Benefits Schedule.
For more information on eligibility please call us on 02 8021 5285 we will check your children eligibility and let you know.
