CDBS and Public Dental in Tasmania: What You Actually Pay

Who Pays for Dental Care in Tasmania

Three channels cover dental care in Tasmania, and which one applies depends on age and concession status. Children aged 0 to 17 use Oral Health Services Tasmania (OHST), billed through the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), at no cost to the family. Adults who are the primary holder of a current Pensioner Concession Card or Health Care Card can use OHST's adult service for a co-payment. Everyone else sees a private dentist, with a health fund's extras cover contributing where the policy allows.

Medicare itself does not cover the cost of most dental services for adults; its only significant dental benefit is the CDBS for children (Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, health.gov.au). That single fact explains why the CDBS, OHST and private health insurance sit alongside each other as separate systems rather than one Medicare-style scheme covering dental care the way it covers a GP visit. This page sets out what each channel actually pays; for what happens at the appointment itself, see dental checkup and scaling in Tasmania.

The CDBS and OHST Children's Care

The Child Dental Benefits Schedule pays up to $1,158 over 2 consecutive calendar years for an eligible child aged 0 to 17, and this cap is indexed on 1 January each year (Services Australia, current for 2026). In Tasmania, OHST treats children 0 to 17 and bills the CDBS on the family's behalf; if a child has no CDBS entitlement, or has already used it up, OHST charges nothing extra, which means public dental care for a Tasmanian child costs the family nothing regardless of CDBS status.

The CDBS covers basic services: check-ups, X-rays, cleaning, fissure sealing, fillings, root canals and extractions, subject to item and time restrictions. It does not cover orthodontic work, cosmetic dental work, or any dental service provided in a hospital. The "2 year rule" families often ask about refers to the benefit period: it starts at the beginning of the calendar year in which the child both becomes eligible and receives a first service, and any unused funds lapse at the end of that period rather than carrying forward indefinitely.

Nationally, 58% of Tasmanian children aged 0 to 17 were CDBS-eligible in 2021, the highest share of any Australian jurisdiction (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare). That context matters locally: a large majority of Tasmanian families with school-age children are likely to have some CDBS entitlement available, which is worth checking even for a family that has not used it before, since eligibility is assessed automatically rather than applied for.

Who Qualifies for Adult Public Dental

CDBS eligibility for a child requires all three of the following: the child is eligible for Medicare, is aged 0 to 17 for at least one day in that calendar year, and the child, or their parent, carer or guardian, receives an eligible payment (such as Family Tax Benefit Part A) at least once that year. There is no separate application: Services Australia writes to eligible families directly.

Adult public dental eligibility is simpler to state: OHST's adult service is for the primary holder of a current Pensioner Concession Card or Health Care Card. Anyone who does not hold one of these cards uses a private dentist or a health fund, not OHST's general adult service. Being a dependant on someone else's concession card is different from being the primary holder; the eligibility is tied to holding the card yourself, so check which category applies before assuming coverage.

What Public Dental Costs

OHST's adult co-payments, applicable from 26 March 2025, are the only official Tasmanian dental prices published by government. General dental care, meaning a check-up, scale and clean or fillings, costs $47 per appointment, capped at $188 for a full course of care. Priority care for one urgent problem is $47. Dentures cost $415 for a full upper and lower set together, or $234 for one arch alone, with partials and other denture work discussed at the appointment. High-cost treatments attract an additional co-payment, set case by case.

These figures are co-payments charged to eligible concession-card holders, not a market price; a private clinic's fee for the same treatment is set independently and is typically higher, since no official schedule of private dental fees exists in Australia. High-cost treatment, such as a more complex procedure identified during a course of general care, attracts an additional co-payment that is set case by case and discussed with the patient at the appointment before it proceeds, rather than being a fixed published figure.

What Health Funds Pay

Private health insurance extras cover is the main option for anyone who is not eligible for OHST's adult service and does not want to pay the full private fee out of pocket. Extras policies typically split general dental (check-ups, cleans, fillings) from major dental (crowns, dentures, root canals), each with its own annual benefit limit and waiting period; a common example structure is a 2-month wait for general dental and a 12-month wait for major dental, though the exact terms are set by each product, not by law, so check the current Private Health Information Statement for a specific policy on privatehealth.gov.au.

Some funds run preferred-provider networks with clinics that offer set benefits: Bupa's Members First network covers over 1,000 clinics nationally, with 50% or more back on most dental services under eligible extras cover, and its Members First Platinum tier pays 100% back on up to two check-up-and-cleans a year at over 850 clinics; Bupa's Members First Ultimate tier, available at over 140 clinics, allows check-up-and-cleans to be claimed outside the usual yearly limits and pays 100% back on general fillings. HCF's More for Teeth arrangement pays 100% back each calendar year on a set of services at HCF Dental Centres or participating providers, subject to the cover held. Medibank's Members' Choice Advantage network pays 100% back on up to two check-ups a calendar year, including X-rays where clinically needed. nib's First Choice network dentists charge fees the practice has agreed with nib for certain services. Network membership and benefits change, so confirm current terms with the fund or on its own "find a provider" tool before booking, rather than assuming a badge is current.

None of these network arrangements replace the CDBS or OHST for the people those schemes are meant for; a health fund benefit is relevant mainly to adults who are not eligible for OHST's concession-card service, or who want cover beyond what OHST or the CDBS provides.

How to Book Public Dental

Call Oral Health Services Tasmania on 1300 011 013. Every caller is triaged: an urgent problem gets an appointment for that specific problem, while non-urgent treatment may be placed on a waiting list. This site does not publish a waiting list length or expected wait time, since no current official figure is published.

The six adult dental centres are in Burnie, Devonport, Launceston, Clarence, Glenorchy and Hobart. Payment options for an OHST invoice include BPAY (biller code 273912), Centrepay deductions, Service Tasmania Billpay (code 8228), payment in person, or a payment plan arranged by calling 1300 565 301. Two further OHST schemes exist for specific circumstances: the Emergency Dental Scheme, which may offer a triaged urgent patient a voucher for a contracted private provider (paid at current DVA rates, capped at $250 and limited to the urgent problem), and the Tasmania Denture Care Scheme, which offers selected patients at the top of the denture waiting list a voucher for a contracted prosthetist (this scheme's page was last confirmed updated in December 2021, so check current terms with OHST directly before relying on it).

Booking ahead of an urgent problem is worth doing where possible: a routine call for a check-up goes through the same 1300 011 013 line and the same triage process as an urgent one, so getting on the system before a problem becomes urgent can make a real difference to how quickly it is seen. For what happens once you are booked in, see dental checkup and scaling in Tasmania.