Improve dental scheme, ADA urges new government

Congratulating the Coalition Government on being re-elected, the Australian Dental Association hopes that the Government will consult on how dental care might be best delivered to disadvantaged Australians.

Since the announcement that the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) would be replaced by a public dental care scheme, ADA has campaigned to save the CDBS.

ADA says that the Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme (caPDS) will be under-resourced, lack infrastructure, and will increase public dental waiting lists.

The Association’s Federal President, Dr Rick Olive AM (pictured) said: “Any public dental care scheme … must draw upon the existing and already established dental workforce and infrastructure, the majority of which is based in private practice. … the caPDS’s ambition to provide dental care for a larger population group – almost three times larger than the CDBS – must provide much more funding than has been announced.

“A new term of government provides us all with a new opportunity to work together to devise a better public dental scheme.”