Dental health

Regular oral health appointments are just as important for a child in care, as they are for any child, and are included as part of the multi-domain health assessment for the Child Health Passport. For very young children an oral check can be undertaken by maternal and child health nurses, General Practitioners and practice nurses at a general practice.

Dental appointments can be provided through a mix of private practice and public dental or oral health services.

Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS)

This is a dental benefits program by the Australian Government for eligible children aged 2–17 years that provides up to $1000 in benefits for basic dental services in either a public or private setting. This includes dental examinations, x-rays, cleaning, fissure sealing, fillings, root canals and extractions. Benefits are not available for orthodontic or cosmetic dental work and cannot be used to pay for services provided in a hospital.

For eligibility to the CDBS a child needs to be between 2–17 years old and their carer must be in receipt of Family Tax Benefit Part A or a relevant Australian Government payment.

For more information about the CDBS, visit the Australian Government Department of Health website.

Child and adolescent oral health services

All Queensland resident children 4 years of age or older who have not completed Year 10 of secondary school are eligible for publicly funded oral health care via Queensland Health's Child and Adolescent Oral Health Services (previously referred to as the School Dental Service/Program.) Children younger than 4 years of age and those who have completed Year 10 of secondary school are also eligible for publicly funded oral health care if they are dependents of current concession card holders or hold a current concession card themselves.

Eligibility for publicly funded oral health care in Queensland has also been extended to match the CDBS eligibility criteria. This means that 2–4 year olds and 16–17 year olds are also eligible to receive services in Queensland Health clinics if they are CDBS-eligible.

General courses of oral health care are usually provided on-site at schools through fixed or mobile dental clinics. Some hospital and health services have reviewed and revised their service models and now provide oral health care to children and adolescents at larger dental clinics located within their hospital and health services rather than on-site within schools. Oral health care is provided by teams of oral health staff including dentists, oral health therapists, dental therapists and dental assistants.

Learn more about child and adolescent oral health services.

Dental emergencies

Dental emergencies include toothache; a knocked-out tooth; abscesses and swelling; soft tissue trauma and bleeding. All enquiries regarding emergency and urgent care should be directed to your nearest dental clinic. Some Hospital and Health Services operate a centralised emergency/urgent care contact number. Emergencies are generally assessed over the telephone by trained staff and appointments are prioritised based on severity.

Queensland Health provides a list of public dental clinics in Queensland, including telephone contact details for each clinic.

If you are eligible for public dental services, contact your local clinic for an emergency appointment. Accident and emergency departments at public hospitals can provide emergency dental care outside normal business hours.

For more information about oral health, call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) or visit the Queensland Health website.