CDBS Dentist in Croydon

Divine Dental Care is a registered CDBS provider in Croydon, and we bulk bill eligible children directly through Medicare. For covered treatments within your child's remaining benefit, there is nothing to pay at the appointment and nothing for you to claim back afterwards.

Phone (03) 9725 8040 and mention the Child Dental Benefits Schedule when you book, or book online. Bring your child's Medicare card. We are at 59 Wicklow Ave, Croydon VIC 3136, a short walk from Croydon station, open six days a week including Saturdays.

Is It $1,158 or $1,132? Both, Depending on Your Child

This is the part that causes the most confusion, and most pages skip it entirely.

The CDBS cap is indexed by Services Australia every 1 January. But the increase does not apply to every child at once. It applies to the calendar year in which your child received their first eligible dental service, and that figure then holds for their whole two-year period.

So if you have been told $1,132 and a friend has been told $1,158, neither of you has been given the wrong number. Your children simply started their periods in different years. If you are not sure which applies, we check the exact remaining balance at the appointment before any treatment is booked.

How the Two-Year Period Works

The two-year period is measured in consecutive calendar years, not in months from the first appointment. It starts at the beginning of the calendar year in which your child both becomes eligible and receives their first dental service.

This catches families out. If your child's first visit is in November 2026, the period does not run to November 2028. It runs to 31 December 2027. Two full calendar years, one of which is nearly over before you have started.

You can use the full amount in the first year if the treatment calls for it. If you do not, the remainder carries into the second year, provided your child is still eligible that year.

Unused Benefit Is Forfeited

Anything left unspent when the two calendar years end is gone. It does not roll into a new period, and it cannot be recovered. The balance is also lost if your child stops being eligible partway through, for example if the family stops receiving the qualifying payment.

Practically, that means late in the second year is the time to check your balance rather than assume it will keep. If your child has a few hundred dollars sitting unused in December, a check-up, clean, X-rays and any needed fissure sealants will often use it well.

Who Is Eligible

Three things must all be true within the same calendar year:

• Your child is eligible for Medicare
• Your child is aged 0 to 17 for at least one day of that calendar year
• Your child, or their parent, carer or guardian, received a qualifying payment at least once that year

There is no application and no registration. Services Australia identifies eligible families and sends a letter. Letters do go astray, so if you receive Family Tax Benefit Part A and have a child under 18, it is worth checking your balance regardless.

Qualifying Payments in Full

If your family holds a DVA card, the education allowance row above is worth a look, and so is our DVA dentist page, which covers the adult side of veterans' dental entitlements.

One note on Family Tax Benefit Part A: if you receive it as a lump sum for a past financial year rather than as fortnightly instalments, dental benefits start on the 1 January following that financial year.

What the CDBS Covers

Covered basic dental services are:

• Check-ups and examinations
• X-rays
• Cleaning
• Fissure sealing
• Fillings
• Root canals
• Extractions

Some items carry restrictions on how often they can be claimed. We check those before treatment rather than after, so nothing lands as a surprise.

What Is Not Covered

• Orthodontic work, including braces and clear aligners
• Cosmetic work
• Any dental services provided in a hospital setting

If your child needs orthodontic treatment, the CDBS will not contribute to it. Our braces and clear aligners pages set out what those involve, and most health fund extras policies cover part of the cost.

Checking Your Child's Balance

You do not need to bring the eligibility letter to the appointment. We check eligibility and the remaining benefit amount on the day.

If you would rather know beforehand, there are two ways:

• Online: sign in to myGov, select Medicare, then History and statements, then Child Dental Benefits Schedule
• By phone: call Medicare on 132 011

One thing worth knowing: CDBS services do not count towards the Medicare Safety Net or the Extended Medicare Safety Net thresholds. Using your child's dental benefit has no effect on those.

What Happens at the Appointment

1. Phone (03) 9725 8040 and say you want to use the CDBS when you book
2. Bring your child's Medicare card
3. We check eligibility and the remaining balance before treatment starts
4. We confirm what is covered and tell you if anything falls outside the benefit
5. We bulk bill Medicare directly, so there is nothing to pay on the day and nothing to claim back

CDBS Families in Croydon and the Surrounding Suburbs

Croydon skews young at the bottom of its age profile. ABS 2021 Census data for Croydon (Vic.) records a population of 28,608 with a median age of 39, and 1,868 children aged 0 to 4, which at 6.5% sits above the Victorian average of 5.8%. Add the 5 to 9 and 10 to 14 bands and there are roughly 5,150 children aged 0 to 14 in the suburb, across 7,785 families averaging 1.8 children each.

Median weekly household income in Croydon sits at $1,615. That is a suburb with a lot of young families on ordinary incomes, which is precisely the profile Family Tax Benefit Part A is built around, and therefore the profile the CDBS is built around. A meaningful number of local children are eligible for dental care their parents are paying for out of pocket without realising.

We see CDBS families from Croydon, Croydon North, Croydon Hills, Croydon South, Mooroolbark, Kilsyth, Ringwood, Ringwood East and Bayswater. Saturday appointments help when school and work make weekdays difficult.

Booking CDBS Care at Divine Dental Care

• Registered CDBS provider, bulk billing directly through Medicare
• Balance checked before treatment, not after
• Twelve dentists, so appointments are available without long waits
• Open six days including Saturdays
• QIP accredited practice with on-site digital scanning and X-rays
• Children and parents seen together where it suits the family

Related Reading for Parents

• How the CDBS benefit works across two years: a Croydon family's plan
• Children's dental care in Croydon: building healthy habits early
• Kids free dental: the service page
• Fissure sealants, one of the covered preventive treatments

Other Ways We Help With Cost

If your child is not eligible for the CDBS, or you are asking about an adult, the Medicare and the dentist page sets out what is and is not funded, including the options for adults. We are also preferred providers for the major health funds, covered on our private health insurance page, and we accept both DVA card types, covered on our DVA dentist page.

CDBS eligibility, cap amounts, covered services and the two-year period described on this page are drawn from Services Australia and were last checked on 9 August 2026. The cap is indexed each 1 January and program rules can change. Confirm current details at servicesaustralia.gov.au or with our team. This page is general information, not personal dental advice; your dentist will assess your child's individual clinical need.